OLG Pays out Fourth Quarter Hosting Fees
Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) has announced that it has paid out fourth quarter non tax gaming revenue payments to 23 municipalities across the province, covering payments from January to March 2013.
The OLG revenue payments, totaling $17,041,396, were paid to those municipalities who host OLG facilities such as casinos. Since the lottery corporation introduced this policy, it has paid out over $900 million to these host municipalities.
Areas which have benefited from the hosting fees include Gananoque and Leeds Grenville, which OLG has been paid a $359,000 share of slot machine revenues for the fourth quarter.
Since the Thousand Islands Casino opened in the area of these two communities, Gananoque and Leeds have collectively received over $36 million in non tax gaming revenues.
OLG Modernization Plans Going Ahead
In its press release announcing fourth quarter payouts to gaming site host municipalities, OLG also reiterated its commitment to modernizing Ontario's lottery and gaming industry in an effort to increase revenue for the province and create new jobs.
OLG said that these plans would create a new consistent funding model for hosting towns and cities.
According to the Minister of Finance, Charles Sousa: "OLG gaming sites offer tremendous benefits for host communities across our province. In addition to job creation and increased tourism, gaming revenue payments allow municipalities to make significant investments in their local priorities to benefit Ontario families."
OLG predicts that its modernization plans will result in over 2,300 new industry jobs and 4,000 service sector jobs. These plans also includes ways to improve how lottery and gaming are delivered in Ontario.
Modernization Plans May Affect Hosting Municipalities
Not all communities will benefit from the OLG's revamped business model, however.
Going back to the example of the Thousand Islands Casino where OLG hosting fees are shared by Gananoque and Leeds, it can be seen that the future of these two casinos may be in jeopardy.
The reason is that the nearby city of Kingston is trying to get private investors to make a bid for a larger gambling facility which could negatively impact the Thousand Islands Casino, and thus the hosting fees received and relied on by these two communities.
The OLG, which has been in operating since 1975, has generated over $36 billion for the benefit of the province since its launch. Proceeds are directed to hospitals, sports cultural activities, communities, health care, education and much more.
