Legal gambling in Michigan generated about half a billion dollars in tax revenue for the state School Aid Fund, according to a recent report by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which oversees casinos and other forms of betting in the state.
The fund supports K-12 public schools in Michigan. Gambling tax revenue is a drop in the bucket compared to property and sales taxes, but that amount has been increasing every year since online gambling became legal in Michigan in 2021.
This year, about 80% ($400 million) of those taxes came from online gambling. But there’s also been an increase in calls to the state’s problem gambling help line.
A big concern for preventing addiction is the ease of access to online gambling, said Alia Lucas, a gambling disorder program specialist at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
