Excerpt from article A good deal By Ryan Starr - Business Examiner - Fraser Valley - November 02, 2007
But all that’s peanuts compared to the millions of dollars host cities receive each year from the 10 per cent cut they get of casino profits. Langley City, which received $6 million last year from Cascades Casino, has used the bulk of the windfall to pay down debt. It also earmarked 30 per cent for capital projects.“Last year that meant a net tax savings to each taxpayer of about 2.74 per cent,” says Langley City mayor Peter Fassbender. “That’s how every single citizen has benefitted directly — a savings on their tax bill.”
With the $11 million the City of Richmond got from River Rock last year, it paid for four RCMP officers, created $500,000 in grants, and put the remainder towards public works and capital projects, including construction of the $5 million Olympic Oval.
Coquitlam’s Boulevard Casino revenues have helped it fund $800,000 in improvement projects at the local library, theatre and arts centre.It’s a lot of dough, and cities must be careful not to get hooked.
New Westminster, facing a declining industrial base but not wanting to raise taxes, reportedly used $2.4 million of its casino profits to run the city last year.
Most steer clear of utter dependence on this big money, however.“We do not use the revenues to pay for anything that is an ongoing operating cost,” says Fassbender. “If that facility was to shut down for some reason — a fire or a pandemic — the revenue stops instantly and there’s no insurance to cover it.”
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