Saturday, January 16, 1999
Tax revenues from casino may be shuffled
Chio Ohio County, Rising Sun to vote on issue
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ohio County and Rising Sun, Ind., are preparing to redistribute the wealth of Grand Victoria casino tax rev enue.
They want to cut off towns in Dearborn County, which get money from Lawrenceburg's Argosy casino, as well as Switzerland County, where a new riverboat is due to open next year.
They are planning to share the money, instead, with cash-poor Franklin and Jennings counties.
Against the protests of the towns that have the most to lose, Rising Sun and Ohio County are expected to vote next month for the first major redistribution of millions of dollars.
“We have three counties here who are certainly way, way better off financially than any of us ever dreamed we could be,” said Monte Denbo, economic and gaming adviser to Rising Sun Mayor Mark Guard.
“If we've all been lucky enough that we are now the home base of these riverboats, then I say, why shouldn't we reach out and help other areas?”
The possible unexpected windfall almost is beyond imagination for officials in Franklin County, on the Ohio border just north of Dearborn County; and Jennings County, just west of Ripley County. With little industry and lots of farmland, they could use the money to pave and repair roads, add to public facilities and improve the lives of their residents.
“That would really be a lift for us,” said Louis Linkel, Franklin County Commission president. “We thought it was all over with” when the region's last casino revenue-sharing agreement was signed without mention of this county.
During the first three-quarters of 1998, Rising Sun and Ohio County divided about $780,000 among Switzerland County and its towns, Patriot and Vevay, along with the Dearborn County municipalities of Aurora, Greendale, West Harrison, St. Leon, Moores Hill and Dillsboro.
Still spending
Officials in those towns say they still need the money. They have bridges and roads to rebuild, parks to maintain and public buildings to construct.
All of the municipalities receiving gambling revenue are careful not to put that money into their operating budgets. Officials said they fear dependence on a funding source that could dry up in a recession, or simply float away.
But they never expected Rising Sun or Ohio County to change their revenue-sharing agreements and snatch the money away.
“I think we realized that sooner or later these boats could pack up and move down the river. We didn't want to (be) completely dependent on it,” said Dillsboro Town Council President Harold Seamon. “But on the other hand, there are a few projects we'd like to get done and now ... we might have to wait a while.”
Switzerland County and its towns would not be able to replace the money until Hollywood Park-Boomtown Inc. opens its casino there in the summer of 2000.
Bridge repairs, fire department equipment upgrades and other projects would have to be scrapped, said Switzerland County Commission President Jim Allison.
In Dearborn County and Lawrenceburg, officials worry that municipalities in their county might come asking for additional cash. They say they cannot afford to give any more.
“I'm not opposed to sharing the wealth. But we don't have all of Dearborn County's problems solved yet,” said county council president Charlie Fehrman. “We would have to take the money away from the life squads or the library or somewhere else.”
In the first three quarters of 1998, Dearborn County received more than $8 million in revenue from Argosy Casino — and gave about $1.2 million to its municipalities.
Last year, Lawrenceburg got $22.8 million from Argosy, kept half and distributed the rest through its revenue-sharing agreement. About $3.5 million went to the other towns in Dearborn County.
“Once something (like a revenue-sharing agreement) is started, it creates a problem because these towns consider that it's going to be there forever. But it's not going to be,” said Dearborn County Commissioner John Kyle. “They should take what they got and run with it. They shouldn't depend on it.”
Making a case
The revenue-sharing agreements were created by casino operators, counties and towns competing for the five Ohio River gaming licenses granted by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) between 1995 and 1998.
Although they are private agreements between the parties — and not required by law — they played a crucial role in swaying IGC members' votes. They were drafted to prove that the casinos' economic benefits would be spread around.
Ohio County applied for its license before Lawrenceburg and Dearborn County announced that they would share Argosy revenue with other Dearborn County towns. So Ohio County volunteered to do so, in a move designed to impress the IGC, Mr. Denbo said.
Some officials — those who stand to lose their share of Grand Victoria's wealth — say they may ask the IGC to step in and stop the proposed changes.
“We always appreciated what (Ohio County and Rising Sun) were giving us. But since we did receive it and that was part of their plan to the state gaming commission in order to get their gaming license, that should be met and carried on,” said Greendale Mayor Jack Braun. Last year his city received nearly $560,000 in gaming revenue from Rising Sun and Ohio County, plus $1.53 million from Lawrenceburg and Dearborn County.
Jennie Byrd, spokeswoman for the IGC, said the commission might review any change in a revenue-sharing agreement. Without seeing a proposal on paper, however, she could not say what action, if any, it would take.
Yet the IGC considered the agreements as a means to sharing casino wealth, she noted. Redistributing that money away from towns that have or are about to get their own casino does not go against that intent and might not require any IGC action.
Mr. Braun said he hopes the commission will act.
“(The IGC) had plenty to say when they were deciding who was going to get a license. It was who was going to take care of who and who's going to share the money,” he said. “But they don't want to step up now and make waves. (The state) has their money coming in no matter what ... so they're happy.”
Change excludes Aurora
Ohio County's Mr. Denbo, who drafted the county and Rising Sun funding proposals, said he is stunned by the harsh reactions of Dearborn and Switzerland counties' towns.
The proposed funding change includes a concession for Aurora — it would continue to receive half of the amount it currently gets from Ohio County and Rising Sun, since it deals with the bulk of traffic heading for Grand Victoria.
“If these people sat back and really looked at this in a hard-core business way and said they were disadvantaged, I would be amazed. ... Dearborn County has a heck of a revenue stream coming in there,” he said.
And the original revenue-sharing agreements were written to exclude the home county or town of another riverboat casino — so Switzerland County should have known what was coming when it received the last Indiana gaming license last fall.
When that happened, Ohio County officials began reaching out to Switzerland and Dearborn counties. They wanted to begin a true regional revenue-sharing program, with each riverboat host county contributing equal amounts to be shared among the seven counties of southeastern Indiana.
“That kind of fell on deaf ears,” Mr. Denbo said. “That idea was probably a little Pollyannish in its thought. But it would have been a great idea if it had worked.”
Ohio County and Rising Sun officials say they are committed to helping poor counties that have yet to taste the fruits of legalized gaming and vow to fight opposition to make it happen.
“The support is pretty strong” among county commission and city council members, Mr. Denbo said.
“The easy thing to do would be to just leave this alone and no one would have said anything about it. But it's not the right thing.”
No bus service but doors open - for the kids
Turfway sold for $37M
Keeneland brings Turfway prestige, historian says
Turfway buyers are big in casinos, lotteries
Carroll has Midas touch with property
Firemen survive fatal blaze
Arson fire ravages wing of junior high school in Hamilton
City schools push for tax increase
Man sentenced to life for raping boy, 8
Events honor Dr. King
Martin Luther King Day events
Annexation fight heats up
Blue Ash to upgrade stoplights
Butler Co. advised to scrap or upgrade computer system
Chief won't quit, so now what?
Jealous over Internet, man kills family, self
Middletown to seek federal law on train whistles
Road builder earning bonuses
Russian diva's 'Salome' sets Music Hall ablaze
Skiers warmed by ice, snow
Tax revenues from casino may be shuffled
TRISTATE DIGEST
Two teens' allegations about jail to be aired
