Port Moody City is lobbying for the state of British Columbia to review its casino revenue-sharing model. 바카라사이트 It was voted on February 28, 2023 by the city council and the council. Samantha Agtarab’s resolution will be sent to the annual meeting of the local government association in May 2023. If successful, the sharing model will bring more revenue to the region.
The city’s new resolution argues that the current game model unfairly benefits the casino’s host community, while social costs apply to the entire region. Meanwhile, casino-hosting cities have pocketed more than C$1.5 billion in casino revenue since 1999, and now take 10% of the state’s net income from legal gambling.
Commenting on the new resolution, Mr Agtarab noted that casino revenues are not shared among nearby governments, but instead distributed by seven host communities. She added that gambling revenues should be distributed in a fair way, as residents of all communities access and use amenities across the region, from hospitals to casinos.
For example, Metro Vancouver’s Coquitlam, Burnaby, Langley, New Westminster, Surrey, Richmond and Vancouver spent more than C$40 million in fiscal 2022. It also receives little benefit from property taxes, employment, and tourism. The current model is intended to offset infrastructure and social services costs, but this has been minimal.
The British Columbia Lottery Company provides game revenue through statewide community and program grants, but this is not guaranteed and must be applied for and accepted by a non – profit organization. The Port Moody’s resolution states that the agreement seems inherently unfair to communities who are not organizers of the gaming facility, which is the case for the city.
The resolution also noted that the city, home to Eagle Ridge Hospital, which serves all tri-city but receives no further revenue, is paid in a way that is not proportional to its population. Richmond, for example, received 27% of local game revenue, which is only 8% of the total population.
This resolution proposes two solutions. The first is to consolidate game revenues in the lower mainland and distribute them per capita. The second, on the other hand, is to follow View Royal’s regional model, distributing 55% of the local gaming revenue to other Metro Vancouver communities. Therefore, it contributes about C$270,000 annually to Port Moody.
BC’s casinos are used to provide key economic benefits to states and residents. One of these gaming properties is Treasure Cove Casino, which provided nearly $44 million in revenue to the host community, Prince George, in fiscal 2021-2022. This earned C$40.6 million in slot games, while table games and bingo contributed C$1.1 million and C$2.1 million.