INDIANAPOLIS | Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. lent a hand Saturday to a lobbying effort that crushed a plan to charge multimillion dollar fees to Horseshoe and other casinos seeking to expand.

Looking for cash to fund property-tax relief efforts, lawmakers on Friday suggested a $25 million fee for riverboats that build barge-style platforms, plus another $300 per new square foot of gaming space.

Casino lobbyists were out in legion Saturday and by mid-morning had talked legislators down to a $15 million fee, plus $200 per new square foot of gambling space.

Horseshoe General Manager Rich Mazer, who halted vacation plans to join the lobbying effort, said even the lower fees would've cost the casino $27 million to press ahead with construction of a new 350,000-square-foot facility in Hammond Marina. He said the company would've had to consider scaling back the ongoing $485 million expansion.

"I was supposed to be on campaign stops today, " McDermott said. "It was important enough for the mayor to drive down to Indianapolis."

Region lawmakers said the proposed fees also threatened potential expansions of Resorts East Chicago and Majestic Star Casino in Gary. Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, began rounding up opposition, and by early evening she had enough votes to kill the tax plan in the Senate.

"What kind of policy statement is the state making -- that we're going to penalize businesses for expanding?" Rogers said. "We don't do that with any other business in this state."

Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, acknowledged that the riverboat tax plan quickly "sunk to the bottom of the harbor,"

If lawmakers had pressed ahead, they risked unraveling an underlying plan to bankroll property tax relief by permitting slot machines at two southern Indiana horse racing tracks.

The proposal calls for the tracks to pay a combined $500 million for the right to split 4,000 slots. Another $50 million for tax relief would come from gambling taxes the state would receive once the slots are up and running.