By Seth Daniel
No doors have yet opened at the Wynn Boston Harbor resort on Lower Broadway, but the second – and largest to date – mitigation check will be delivered to the City tonight, June 14.
Wynn will present the first $12.5 million casino mitigation check to the City of Everett following a public meeting June 14 that will seek to update residents on construction efforts. The $12.5 million is part of the Host Community Agreement with Wynn, and a second $12.5 million payment will come in June 2018 as well.
Last year, in late May, Wynn delivered a $5 million check to the City after having secured a building permit for the resort.
Once the casino opens in June 2019, some $32 million in payments – worked out as a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) – will begin to come in annually for the main mitigation piece of the Agreement.
That PILOT payment, in replacement of property taxes, will increase by 2 percent annually.
Wednesday night’s payment is a major milestone for the City.
It is the first real mitigation payment not tied to any building permits or construction milestones.
“This $12.5 million check represents new growth for the City of Everett,” said Mayor Carlo DeMaria this week. “Through our Host Community Enhancement Fund this money allows us to invest more funds into critical municipal infrastructure and services such as police, fire, schools, and parks, and even more importantly these funds represent just a small portion of the $2.4 billion investment in the City of Everett and the 4,000 construction jobs and an additional 4,000 hospitality jobs that this project is creating.”
Per City ordinance, the money will go into the Host Community Enhancement Fund, which was created in a home rule petition by the City Council last year, and supported at the State House by Rep. Joe McGonagle and Sen. Sal DiDomenico.
The money in that fund can be used for projects on the Five-Year Capital Plan and for dedicated debt service payments. It is to be appropriated by the City Council.
Last year, Mayor DeMaria proposed using the entire $5 million Wynn payment for property tax relief – something he had called for long ago. The Council agreed to it, and approved the expenditure.
So far, there are no specific plans for this year’s $12.5 million payment.