Township nearing $8-million in slots payment

Centre Well­ing­ton received $591,444 on July 18 for hosting the slots facility in its muni­cipality at the Grand River Raceway.

The payment from Ontario Gaming and Lottery was for the first quarter of 2008. To date, the township has re­ceived more than $7.9-million in non-tax gaming revenue. About 20% of that goes to Wellington County.

The slots opened in late 2003 and, to date, has attracted more than 2.8 million visitors.

OLG distributed more than $19.1-million so far in first quarter revenue to 23 municipalities that host OLG casinos and slots at racetracks.

Tracks and their horse groups also receive a share of the revenue – 20 per cent of the gross profits, divided evenly between the two groups.

In 2008-09, the province will allocate $110-million in gaming revenue to support charities and community groups through the Trillium Foundation grants. Funding to that foundation will increase to $120-million next year.

Centre Wellington has designated its share of the slots cash for infrastructure. Every $70,000 the township raises in property taxes represents one per cent of the tax levy.

 

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