City warns gaming mitigation fund likely ends; $3 million annual aid may stop

Tim Sheehan, the city’s chief development officer, told the Finance Committee that the Mass. Gaming Commission’s community mitigation fund — which has provided roughly $3 million annually to Springfield to address casino impacts — may end because the governor and legislature have reclaimed the funding to shore up the state budget. Sheehan said the community mitigation fund supported a range of projects including a harm‑reduction and gambling awareness initiative out of Health and Human Services, a regional attraction and improvement project for Symphony Hall, public‑realm streetscaping in the South End, a $600,000 parking initiative, and a $1.5 million transportation/public‑realm downtown grant. "We have been fortunate for the past few years to be getting roughly $3,000,000 annually from the fund. But as I said, the governor and the legislature has reclaimed that funding to shore up their budgets. So, this is likely the last year for the program," Sheehan said. Committee members asked whether host community agreements remain; Sheehan said the host community agreements stay in place but the mitigation fund itself is likely ending. Council members asked whether the loss represents operational cuts; city staff said the mitigation fund paid for capital and programmatic mitigation projects rather than core city operations and that staff layoffs were not expected as a result. Councilor Jose Delgado said the economic development fund established with gaming revenues had also been reclaimed by the legislature, reducing ongoing revenue streams for host communities. Committee members requested a written list of allocations for the meeting on the council floor; Sheehan agreed to provide a list of the proposed projects and funding allocations.