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County Gets Share Of Casino Revenue





 

 

Fulton County is receiving money from casinos operating in Ohio.

But the amount will not offset the loss of state revenuesharing funds state officials are taking away from Fulton County, said Vond Hall, Fulton County administrator.

Hall said when all the state cuts of money going to local governments go into effect, Fulton County will lose about $1 million in revenue per year.

“Casino revenue will not be $1 million,” he said.

Two Open

Casinos were first approved by Ohio voters in 2009. The first two, located in Toledo and Cleveland, went into operation in May.

Under Ohio law, casinos pay a gross casino revenue tax, which is 33% of the gross casino revenue.

Gross casino revenue is the amount of money casino patrons gamble on slot ma- chines or table games.

Subtracted from that amount is whatever the casino pays out in winnings.

Casino operators must pay the tax every day.

The money goes to Columbus, where it accumulates in the Ohio Casino Tax Revenue Fund.

After each quarter, money is taken from the fund and distributed to several other funds.

The largest shares, 51% and 34%, go to the Gross Casino County Revenue Fund and Gross Casino County Student Fund, respectively.

In the county fund, the money is distributed to each of Ohio’s 88 counties, based on population. If there is a city with a population of more than 80,000 in a county, the city gets half the county money.

Also, counties that host casinos– Lucas, Cuyahoga, Franklin, and Hamilton– receive an extra 5% share of the casino revenue fund.

In the county student fund, money is distributed to school districts, based on the number of students.

Payout

Fulton County received its first payout from the casino county funds in July.

With casinos only operating two months, the Fulton County share, based on an estimated 2011 population of 42,510, was $37,107.27.

Cuyahoga County, with more than 1.27 million people, plus the extra revenue for hosting a casino, got the biggest payout at $554,424.51.

Vinton County, with 13,367 people, got the smallest share, $11,668.17.

School districts across the state won’t receive their first payment from casino revenues until January 2013.

The total amount paid to counties in July was more than $7.7 million.

In July, total payments to the Ohio Casino Tax Revenue Fund were more than $19.7 million.


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