Proposed MGM casino at National Harbor favored by two gaming-revenue consultants At a lengthy Maryland Video Lottery Facility Location Commission meeting in Annapolis, where six consulting firms presented studies on everything from traffic and hotel suites to economic impacts and marketing expenditures, MGM came out on top in most categories. But those analyses were immediately attacked by rival casino companies executives, with one calling the revenue projections "fatally flawed." The two consultants, who created separate sets of projections before comparing notes, said MGM would generate either $30 million or $102 million more in 2019 revenue than a Parx Casino in Fort Washington and $152 million or $168 million more than a Hollywood Casino at the historic Rosecroft harness-racing track. Their projections did not address the different slots-tax rates proposed by the applicants. But another consultant, who reviewed the economic and fiscal impacts of the proposed casinos, told the facility location commission that MGM would wind up paying more total gambling taxes than the other applicants - despite using the lowest tax rate. MGM, the consultant said, would pay $333 million in gambling taxes in its fifth year of operation, compared with $328 million from Parx and $294 million from Hollywood. The MGM proposal calls for a 56 percent slots tax, a consultant revealed during a presentation in Annapolis. The Greenwood Racing proposal for Parx sets the slots tax at 61 percent. Penn National Gaming would pay a 62 percent tax on slots at Rosecroft. Only Penn had previously made its tax rate public. Table games are taxed at a flat 20 percent rate. The National Harbor site has long been favored by Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) as a catalyst for economic development. The commission plans to award the license Dec. 20, although the new casino would not open until mid-2016. The consultants" findings, MGM Resorts Vice President of Public Affairs Gordon Absher said, "seemed to validate what we've said all along: that MGM National Harbor is the best company, best location and best proposal." The revenue consultants agreed that any of the three casinos would draw heavily from neighboring Virginia, none more so than MGM. Both reports predicted Virginia gamblers would fork over nearly $350 million to a casino at National Harbor in 2019. The commonwealth has long rejected casino gambling, even as surrounding states have embraced it as a source of additional revenue. Greenwood Racing is proposing the most slot machines - 4,750, compared with 3,000 at Rosecroft and 3,600 at MGM. But in providing revenue analysis of the proposals, Will Cummings of Harrisburg, Pa.-based Cummings Associates said MGM's was more promising because of its location: just across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from the District and Northern Virginia, the primary markets for a Prince George's casino.