Casino Mitigation Grants Shrink by About Three-Quarters as Legislature Diverts Fund for Second Year

Cities and towns near Massachusetts' casinos are receiving about a quarter of the money they got last year to offset the effects of gambling, after the Legislature diverted the state's Community Mitigation Fund for a second straight year, according to Massachusetts Gaming Commission records.

Boston's share illustrates the scale of the cut. The city received $2,607,000 from the fund in fiscal 2026. Its fiscal 2027 allocation is $668,500, according to the commission's table of proposed grant amounts. Mayor Michelle Wu has filed an order asking the Boston City Council to authorize the city to accept and spend the $668,500 grant, which is on the council's agenda for its Wednesday meeting.

The commission's fiscal 2027 guidelines explain the reduction. "For a second year, the State Legislature diverted the expected Community Mitigation Funds for other uses," the guidelines state. The total available for the program is $5 million, compared with $19.5 million in fiscal 2026. That amounts to 25.64% of what was programmed the year before, and the commission decided that each eligible community's proposed grant would be 25.64% of its previous award, according to the guidelines.

The Community Mitigation Fund was established in 2015 and normally receives 6.5% of the revenue from a tax on casinos, CommonWealth Beacon reported in December 2025. Lawmakers first redirected that revenue in the fiscal 2025 state budget, a move Gov. Maura Healey described as a one-time maneuver to free up $100 million during a tight budget year, and the Legislature did so again in the fiscal 2026 budget, sending the money to transportation, education, economic development and tourism, according to CommonWealth Beacon. The commission is using the remaining balance, about $5 million, for fiscal 2027 grants, leaving the fund to run out of money unless funding is restored, the publication reported.

The commission has awarded nearly $80 million from the fund since 2015, including about $22 million in 2024, CommonWealth Beacon reported.

The cut applies across all three casino regions. In Region A, around Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, $2,949,100 is available, down from $11.5 million in fiscal 2026 grants, according to the commission's table. Everett's allocation falls from $2,862,000 to $733,900. Somerville's drops from $1,110,000 to $284,700, Medford's from $1,048,400 to $268,900, Chelsea's from $1,027,700 to $263,500, Malden's from $882,800 to $226,400, Cambridge's from $700,000 to $179,500 and Revere's from $662,100 to $169,800. Saugus, Lynn and Melrose each go from $200,000 to $51,300.

In Region B, around MGM Springfield, the total falls from $4.3 million to $1,102,800. Springfield's allocation drops from $1,403,700 to $360,000. Around Plainridge Park Casino, the six eligible communities share $128,300, down from $500,000; Plainville's allocation falls from $153,300 to $39,300. Regional agencies will share $819,800, according to the guidelines. The commission's table notes that amounts are rounded to the nearest $100.

The guidelines say that because of the reduction, the commission reserves the right to prioritize applications based on the public benefit each is likely to produce, and to fund only portions or percentages of requested projects.

Springfield's chief development officer, Tim Sheehan, told CommonWealth Beacon last year that communities should have objected when the money was first diverted. "From the Legislature's standpoint – we did it once and we didn't have any pushback, therefore, we're going to take it again," he said.

Boston's application, signed Jan. 30 by Marcus Kennedy of the city's Office of Budget Management, requested $675,868, slightly more than its allocation. It sought $445,287 for the Boston Police Department and $230,581 for a youth gambling-prevention project in Charlestown led by the city's public health department.

The police portion describes a coordinated effort involving several units, including the Office of Research and Development, the Domestic Violence Unit and Human Trafficking Unit of the Family Justice Center, the Homicide Unit's Fatal Collision Investigation Team, the Boston Regional Intelligence Center and the Mobile Operations Patrol. The application includes a request for two motorcycles for traffic enforcement, pedestrian safety and drunken-driving prevention in Charlestown corridors the department says are used by casino patrons, including Alford Street, Dexter Street, Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue.

To support the request, the department cited its own data. Calls for service in District A-15, Charlestown, rose from 14,166 in 2018 to 14,450 in 2019, the year Encore opened, and in District A-1, downtown, from 84,299 to 85,876, according to the application. Reported crashes in the Sullivan Square area rose from 42 in 2024 to 66 in 2025, and on Rutherford Avenue from 47 to 57. The department reported 855 domestic aggravated assaults citywide in 2018 and 923 in 2025, and said its domestic violence unit has averaged 12 incidents a year in which gambling or Encore was specifically mentioned as a precursor.

The application includes its own caveat: "While correlation does not equate to causation, the data demonstrates sustained upward pressure on public safety resources in casino-adjacent districts." The figures are the department's, as presented in a grant application, and have not been independently audited.

The Charlestown project would develop a youth-centered gambling prevention and education initiative and a digital campaign aimed at young people in Charlestown, which the application describes as a neighborhood neighboring the casino.

Under the guidelines, applications for the fiscal 2027 round were due Jan. 31, 2026. The order before the Boston council would allow the Office of Budget Management to administer the grant, according to the agenda.