EVANSVILLE - Money generated by casino patrons playing the slots and tables in hopes of scoring a win at Tropicana Evansville reaches beyond the boat docked on the Ohio River. Part of the taxes paid by the riverboat and its customers land back in the coffers of Vanderburgh County governments.
The city of Evansville receives about $12 million per year for playing host to the riverboat, and Vanderburgh County sees $2 million. It’s a source of revenue government leaders say is critical because it pays for capital projects and equipment and frees up funds that would otherwise shoulder that cost.
“Riverboat revenue represents a really key revenue stream for the city,” Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said. “It’s about $12 million annually, that’s $12 million we don’t have to rely on the general fund for and other revenue streams.”
City officials have to make tough decisions every budget cycle, Winnecke said, but those decisions would become “exponentially” more difficult without the money Evansville receives from being the hometown of a riverboat.
In all, the city of Evansville and Vanderburgh County has received a combined $154 million in gaming tax revenue from 1996 to 2013, state records show. Evansville’s cut is higher than the county’s because while both governments receive the same share of the $3 admissions tax casino visitors pay, the city also receives a part of the wagering tax the riverboat pays on its revenues as well as land lease payments from Tropicana.
Gaming revenue for the city and Vanderburgh County has remained stable throughout the years, though the city expects to see a $600,000 per year hit going forward now that Tropicana can deduct free-play coupons by a tax break approved by state lawmakers.
Like Evansville, riverboat funding is an important component of the overall operation of county government, said Joe Kiefer, president of the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners.
“You do have a limited amount of money you can collect in the general fund through property taxes. That other source of money is very useful, very helpful and very critical,” Kiefer said. “If we didn’t have it, there are probably things we wouldn’t be able to do.”
Kiefer said without the gaming revenue, the county would have to go without certain equipment or residents could become subjected to higher taxes.
“I would say right now we’ve just been blessed to have that as an income source,” Kiefer said.
How the money is used
Evansville leaders use the cash to meet a diverse set of needs.
For this year, the city budgeted $500,000 in gaming tax revenue to demolish an estimated 100 blighted homes, $400,000 for a new fire pumper truck and $600,000 for a voice annunciation system for the city’s bus system. About $6 million of the funds are allocated to pay down debt, including for the Ford Center, the downtown convention hotel and parks bonds, according to City Controller Russ Lloyd.
In 2013, the Evansville Police Department spent $1 million in gaming revenue. Purchases from the money included new police vehicles, body-worn cameras and two K-9 dogs. The fire department spent more than $800,000, with purchases including hoses, nozzles and reels, hazmat gear and a fire engine. Mesker Park Zoo received $1.1. million, with about half going toward building improvements and $10,000 for a Komodo dragon exhibit, according to city records.
Vanderburgh County sends funding to the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville and the Economic Development Coalition of Southwestern Indiana. Funding also has been given to the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana and to help residents afford child care and car repairs to help with access to work opportunities, according to County Auditor Joe Gries. Funding also goes toward infrastructure projects.
Along with local governments, the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau also sees a small portion -- $200,000 per year – of gaming money. Those dollars are invested into promotional items and programming.
One Evansville city councilman said he thinks the city overuses its gaming revenue for items that could be funded elsewhere in the budget. The council’s Finance Chairman Conor O’Daniel said the city choosing to live within its traditional funding sources, such as property taxes and the income tax could free gaming dollars for larger projects.
If the city chose to save a portion of those dollars to build up a fund over the years, O’Daniel said, the money could be invested back into Mesker’s Amphitheatre and other projects without having to issue bonds.
“It should be used for those bigger projects and redevelopment projects more so rather than supplementing some equipment,” O’Daniel said.
O’Daniel said the city should approach using gaming revenue with the mindset of what would happen if it were suddenly gone. Because the city, “would be struggling mightily if that was gone tomorrow,” O’Daniel said.
Evansville City Council President John Friend echoed O’Daniel’s thoughts as the city prepares to debate its 2015 budget. Friend said, “We’re going to look very, very closely at trying to build a reserve up in that riverboat.”
Land ahead?
A committee of state lawmakers, including state Sen. Vaneta Becker, an Evansville Republican, could begin meeting as early as this month to figure out how to increase revenue for the state’s casinos. Those conversations follow dismal tax collections from the riverboats during the fiscal year that ended in June and could include the controversial topic of allowing casinos to move on land.
Taxes collected from riverboat wagering alone fell 7.5 percent below projections for the fiscal year, and the state collected $85 million less from the casinos compared to 2013. A revenue report released for July showed the continuation of lagging revenue from riverboats, with collections coming in at $500,000 about half of what was anticipated.
Winnecke said he intends to lobby the Indiana General Assembly in the upcoming legislative session to allow Tropicana to expand on land.
“We anticipate there will be a gaming bill of some kind,” Winnecke said. “What it entails? We don’t know yet.”