City of Dayton upset over loss of racino money

The city of Dayton will be limited to $1 million in revenue from the Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway racino instead of the $500,000 annual payments it had expected to receive for years to come.

That’s the upshot of compromise language in the recently-passed state budget.

The $1 million will be the sum total of racino revenue, paid out over this year and the next in $500,000 installments, the city said. The settlement with racinos across the state is not what the city of Dayton wanted to see given the expectations of $500,000 annually for the life of the gambling mecca.

The payments had been called for in state law, but it was unclear from the language of state law who was supposed to pay the tab to cities including Dayton - the racinos or the state - and an argument ensued that drew in state legislators.

Smarting under the terms of the budget that will also see Ohio cities losing $18 million in Local Government Funds this year, Dayton city Mayor Nan Whaley lashed the state legislature today.

“These actions show us we don’t have a partner with the state,” she said. “They don’t understand how to grow economies. They don’t understand the vital role cities play in job creation in the state.”

The issue over the racino payments in long-running. Last year, Gov. John Kasich vetoed a provision that called for the city of Dayton to receive $1.5 million over three years because of its status as a racino host city.

Kasich rejected an amendment by state Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, that aimed to split annual payments of $500,000 to Dayton evenly between Penn National Gaming and the state’s Casino Operator Settlement Fund.

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