By the numbers
Total amount of racino revenues distributed to local entities in Shelby County from Indiana Live! Casino.

2008: $2,434,148

2009: $6,338,887

2010: $1,055,453

Total: $9,828,488

— Source: Indiana auditor of state
AJ Colley, Shelbyville News Staff Writer

If Shelby County won big with the creation of Indiana Live! Casino, most people might not know it.

Since the casino opened in its temporary form in June 2008, Shelby County and its communities have received nearly $10 million in gambling revenues. So far, millions haven’t been spent, and no finalized plans are in place for how government bodies should spend the money.

Shelbyville City Council member Kim Owens said it’s a good problem for the city and county to have — trying to figure out how to spend extra money coming into the community.

“For us not to realize that would be foolish,” Owens said. “We have to be very aware of the impact of  these funds.”

Shelbyville Clerk-Treasurer Rod Meyerholtz said other communities in Indiana are struggling financially.

“It’s good that we can deal with something like this,” he said. “We’re very fortunate.”

Racino communities, under Indiana law, have some flexibility for using their racino revenues. The law classifies the money as a miscellaneous expense. Also under the law, racinos like Indiana Live! are required to pay the cities, towns and counties where they are located 3 percent of their adjusted gross receipts. Those payments can stop once the casino hits $8 million paid in a fiscal year.

Money is distributed to Shelby County, Shelbyville, Morristown, Fairland, Edinburgh and St. Paul, with the amount based on the number of residents tied to each area. In the February 2010 payment of racino funds, for example, the county received nearly 55 percent of the money, while Shelbyville received nearly 41 percent and Morristown received about 2.6 percent.

County makes tentative plans

Elected officials have used some of the money. The county council has voted to spend roughly 52 percent of what it’s received so far, according to numbers provided by the Shelby County auditor. The county began receiving racino revenue payments in July 2008.

So far, the most expensive project approved is $1.15 million for Purdue University to build an equine hospital in the county. The university is fundraising for a large portion of the project.

County officials also used $500,000 to balance the 2010 county budget, in light of revenue shortfalls on the state level, County Auditor Amy Glackman said. Every school system in Shelby County received a payment for technology upgrades as well, totaling $344,100 for all four.

Other ways the county used the money include laptop computers for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, a new server for a county building and a parking lot. County council members gave $220,000 to the Shelby County Development Corp. to invest in a sewer project when Harley-Davidson was considering locating to the northwest portion of the county. Only a few hundred dollars of it was spent, and then Harley chose another site. It’s unclear whether the remaining money would go to a sewer district that has been proposed for the same area.

Glackman has no vote in how money is spent but said she agrees with how the county council has doled out the money so far.

“I don’t see that they’re spending it carelessly at all,” she said.

City, Morristown spending generally

The city began receiving gaming revenues in July 2008, and until July 2009, they were placed into the city’s general fund. In July 2009, the state legislature forced local government entities to create a separate fund for racino money.

Up until July, it’s hard to track the money from the city.

“It was part of the general fund income,” Meyerholtz said.

The city didn’t treat the money as any different than other revenue streams for the general fund. Money went to normal city expenses, including salaries and benefits for employees. Meyerholtz said it allowed the city to keep tax rates down for residents.

Since the separate fund was created by Shelbyville, the city hasn’t spent any of the racino money. Including the February payment to the city, $1.78 million sits unspent in the bank.

After the county and city, Morristown collects the biggest sum of racino revenues, according to the February racino tax payment information. In 2009, Morristown received $176,555, Clerk-Treasurer Tom Reber said.

“Last year, we had to use quite a bit of money to keep our license branch operating in the black,” he said.

The town began helping keep the branch open in October 2008, spending roughly $5,000 for it in 2008 and $30,000 in 2009, Reber said. It closed Sept. 4. Now, the town is using racino revenues to cover unemployment costs for the people who worked at the branch. Reber said that can cost $2,800 to $3,000 per month.

Morristown has also purchased a firetruck and bought two lots of land for $6,000 to avoid a costly street project.

“As far as the firetruck goes, that’s a very, very needed thing, and we have no choice but to fund the unemployment,” Reber said.

Although Edinburgh doesn’t get a large piece of the racino money — it’s received just more than $6,000 since July 2008 — the town is happy to use it. Clerk-Treasurer Jackie Smith said the money is spent on general operating expenses for the town.

“It helps offset the tax rate,” Smith said. “It’s money we don’t have to raise through property tax.”

Although it’s not a lot of money, Smith said every dollar helps.

“We’re sure glad to be getting it,” she said.

Fairland startup issues costly

Fairland is perhaps a different case.

“I’m very grateful for what we get,” Clerk-Treasurer Christine Brinson said.

Fairland Town Council President Rick Daily said he’s glad as well.

But Daily, and others in the community, he said, wish the situation was different. Fairland residents need only travel a few hundred feet out of town at night to see the bright lights of Indiana Live! in their neighborhood. The casino is located in a tax increment financing district annexed by Shelbyville, which means property taxes aren’t flowing to the Northwestern Consolidated Schools like they could be, Daily said.

Although northwestern Shelby County is an area of scattered residents, Daily said the school system ties them all together. Residents wish their prized schools were benefiting from the casino and also wish the tax burden could have been alleviated by the property’s taxes.

“They’re not happy about any of this,” Daily said of residents.

Fairland’s re-incorporation has created a unique situation with racino revenues. The town didn’t begin receiving revenue checks until August, Brinson said. It was delayed in receiving various tax distributions after a town census stalled. Fairland borrowed $30,000 from the county for operating expenses in the meantime, which it plans to pay back through its future racino revenues.

Fairland borrowed an additional $25,000 from the county to pay Wessler Engineering to do preliminary work for a potential new sewer district in the area.