Sunday, April 13, 2014

Racinos Reduce County Revenue


What happens to local distribution of Ohio's gambling tax revenues when Racinos (race track casinos) all come on line? Horse racing tracks located near Lebanon, Columbus, Cleveland, Youngstown, Cincinnati and Dayton will or have opened racinos. Racinos provide slot machine style gambling.
A major portion of casino state revenue is shared by the counties and school districts while racino revenue is not distributed to local governments, only to schools. It is becoming evident that many racino gamblers are former casino customers because local government shares are declining.
By law, casino taxes are allocated to schools in addition to state aid. But racino profits that are funneled through the lottery commission could be offset by lower state education assistance. There's a guarantee it's coming to public schools. Whether it's new money to public schools is a different question.
In October 2013 Clinton County received $130,000 casino tax distribution. In Janurary 2014 the county's share fell to $127,000

Paul Hunter

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