Gaming district takes in $20M from casinos in ‘08 (8/4)

Posted August 3, 2009 at 11:56 pm
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By HECTOR SAN MIGUEL
AMERICAN PRESS

The Calcasieu Parish Gaming Revenue District last year collected more than $20 million in gambling taxes from local casinos, according to a review of parish finances released Monday by the state Legislative Auditor’s Office.

The district, created in 2007, pools all gambling taxes and distributes the money to the parish, Lake Charles, Sulphur, DeQuincy, Vinton and Iowa. Westlake, which receives an annual payment of $270,000 in gaming taxes from the Isle of Capri, isn’t included in the arrangement.

According to the report, the parish gambling fund contained about $31.4 million in 2008, almost $4 million less than it had in 2007. The money must be used for capital improvements and nonrecurring expenses.

Two sources of funding are exempt from the parish gambling fund: an annual $1 million payment made to the parish by the Isle of Capri and two Pinnacle Entertainment payments made to Lake Charles for the closure of the Players’ riverboat casino and opening of the Sugarcane Bay resort.

Here is a breakdown on how much money was collected last year by the parish gambling revenue district:

L’Auberge du Lac boarding fees: $12,590,823.

Under an agreement with the parish and the city, casino owner Pinnacle will pay $5 million a year in monthly installments for gambling taxes or a “predetermined percentage of net gaming proceeds,” whichever is greater.

Isle of Capri boarding fees: $5,277,367.

The parish receives 2.766 percent of gross gambling revenues on a monthly basis from the riverboat casino complex.

Delta Downs slots proceeds: $5,512,382.

The Vinton racetrack’s slots parlor pays 4 percent of the taxable net slot proceeds to the parish. The collections were distributed to not only local cities and towns but to McNeese State University, the Calcasieu Parish School Board and Sowela Technical Community College.

Here is a breakdown of how much in gambling money was distributed to government agencies, according to the parish report:

Lake Charles — $8,495,002.
Calcasieu Parish — $8,495,002.
Port of Lake Charles — $2,300,461.
Educational entities — $3,090,107.
Sulphur — $424,300.
DeQuincy — $195,444.
Iowa — $185,616.
Vinton — $194,640.

The report says the gambling fund transferred $7,493,374 to other parish funds “for the purpose of grants for capital or other long-term items.”

It also touched on the effect hurricanes have had on the local casinos’ adjusted gross receipts since 2005.

“When comparing first quarter AGR performance in the most recent four years, it is interesting to note that the ‘second best’ first quarter in 2006 was only $1.9 million (1 percent) less than the ‘best’ first quarter in 2009,” the report reads.

“During the last four years, the highest first quarters each followed a major hurricane impact season for the Gulf Coast region — after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in the fall of 2005, and after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in the fall of 2008. In each case, it would appear that the gaming industry in Calcasieu Parish captured a portion of the post-hurricane recovery spending.”

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