Centre Wellington has received another $529,364 for hosting OLG Slots at Grand River Raceway.
The most recent payment was for the host municipality’s third-quarter share of slots revenue (October to December 2010). To date, Centre Wellington has received more than $13.4 million in non-tax gaming revenue.
Payments are made on a quarterly basis according to the government fiscal year, which runs April to March.
OLG Slots at Grand River opened on Dec. 4, 2003, and since opening, the facility has attracted more than 4.3 million visitors.
“OLG Slots at Grand River Raceway has provided substantial economic and community benefits to the Township of Centre Wellington,” says MPP Liz Sandals. “We all benefit from this strong partnership with OLG and the continuing investments in this municipality that are made possible through this sharing of gaming revenue.”
In total, OLG issued more than $17.7 million in third-quarter non-tax gaming revenue payments to 23 municipalities that host OLG Casinos and OLG Slots-at-racetrack facilities. To date, OLG has distributed $742.5 million to these host municipalities.
Each municipality hosting an OLG Slots-at-racetrack facility receives five per cent of the gaming facility’s gross slot machine revenue from the first 450 slot machines and two per cent from any additional machines over that number.
Those funds are used at the discretion of the municipality.
Tracks and their horse people also share the revenue generated by the slots program, with 20 per cent of gross slot machine revenue split evenly between the two groups. Since the launch of the program in 1998, more than $3.33 billion has been shared between racetrack owners and their horse people.
In 2010/2011, the province will allocate $120 million in gaming revenue to support charities through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Every year, the Government of Ontario allocates two per cent of gross revenue from slot machines at OLG Casinos and OLG Slots-at-racetrack facilities to the province’s problem gambling program for research, treatment and prevention programs. The amount for fiscal 2010/2011 is estimated at $39 million.
OLG Slots at Grand River Raceway is operated and managed by OLG.
OLG is a provincial agency responsible for province-wide lottery games and gaming facilities.
