In response to judicial decisions, the Province, in the spring of 1998, announced that all charity-designated casinos would be switched to regulatory controlled government managed facilities. This meant that the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, as an agent of government, would be taking managerial control of the casinos. This change took place province-wide on June 1, 1998.
In other words the Province took the existing Charity Casino opened in Vernon in 1987 and introduced slot machines and other new table games not previously allowed. The residents of Vernon nor any of the other area municipalities or areas did not have a say in this decision. They could now if allowed by the City Council.
The proposed casino would be 30,000-square-feet compared to the existing 12,000-square-feet. The number of slot machines would go from 210 to 400, and the new casino would have table games, a restaurant and a lounge. But before the proposed casino can move ahead, support from the city is required.
Last fiscal year ending in March 31 ,2007 the City of Vernon received $1,763,005 and in the period July 1999 to March 31, 2006 the City Raked in $8,761,813. Using last years figure of $1.763 million and assuming an increase of 67% as forecasted by a range of financial analysts that follow the company we can expect a new BONANZA of $1,181,213.
How that will be divided up by the City Council if and when they allow the Casino to expand will be the subject of future debate. Whether Council can forgo the lure of this additional revenue is the question for the upcoming public hearing of Nov. 13.
The Total Casino revenue in that same 2007 fiscal period was $28,540,144 so it is easy to see that Vernon's cut was 6.18% of the gross amount extracted from Vernon Gamblers. Using this same Casino take we can estimate that the amount extracted from the Vernon area's economy will be $28,540,144 x 167% = $47,662,040 if this expansion is allowed. More than half of that (54%) will flow back to the Provincial government.
The Casino slot machine revenue in B.C. from the 1999/00 fiscal year to the 2006/07 fiscal year is $3,869,841,940.
The Casino slot machine revenue in Vernon from the 1999/00 fiscal year to the 2006/07 fiscal year is $169,400,411. ($10,524,818 is the City of Vernon's payoff )
(The average slot machine produced $125,000 in B.C. in the 2006/07 fiscal year! and $129,000 in Vernon)
The Casino revenue above is for slots only and does not include the revenue from table games, concessions etc. Last year Vernon's 8 tables brought in $1,430,610 while the 210 slots contributed $27,109,534 for a grand total of $28,540,144.
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Consider all the above when you mark your vote on the poll located on the right side of this BLOG.
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