Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation continues its practice of distributing gambling revenue to host communities throughout the province. The City of Niagara Falls remains one of the major recipients, being home to Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara. In the third quarter of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the city received a non-tax gaming allocation of approximately CA$4 million.
Signed more than two decades ago, the Municipality Contribution Agreement allows OLG to distribute a portion of its gambling revenue to communities hosting its casinos. The allocations for host communities are determined through a formula applied uniformly across all Ontario gaming locations. It is based on a graduated scale, taking into account the gaming income at each property.
Q3 Payments Arrive
On Friday, January 19, 2024, OLG stated that it has now issued its third-quarter non-tax gambling payments to host communities. It sent out CA$34,104,262 to 29 communities across Ontario. For the period of October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, the city of Niagara Falls received CA$4 million for hosting the Crown’s two gaming hotspots in the area.
However, the most recent payment of gambling funds reaffirms the ongoing trend of the city receiving progressively smaller amounts compared to the previous quarters. For example, the CA$4 million received in Q3 is lower than the CA$5.3 million received in Q2, which was obtained in October 2022. Furthermore, the Q2 payment was less than the Q1 payment received in July 2023, which amounted to CA$6.3 million.
A while back, minister of Finance, Peter Bethlenfalvy, commented that OLG continues to deliver Municipality Contribution Agreement payments to gaming host communities across Ontario. These funds are used to support vital programs and services for all Ontarians. Also, land-based casinos, provide good and local jobs and play an important role in the provincial economy.
It comes as no surprise that Niagara Falls has received the largest sum of all host communities for Q3, as the city is a hotspot for millions of tourists every year. Moreover, recent reports confirmed that Fallsview Casino Resort is tied for the most searched land-based gaming properties in the province. The location shared the number one spot with Casino Rama in Orillia.
More Host Communities Get Their Share
Third-quarter non-tax gaming revenue payments were also transferred to Peterborough and Cavan-Monaghan Township by OLG. Peterborough is the home to Shorelines Casino Peterborough and received CA$704,652 for Q3. Since the gaming location first opened its doors in October 2018, it has provided $11,698,967 in non-tax gaming revenue to the city’s coffers.
The Township of Cavan-Monaghan, which hosts Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs in Fraserville, received a solid payment of CA$76,278 for the third quarter of 2023-24. Its latest portion is down from the CA$89,929 from Q2. Since the launch of the gaming destination in November 1999, the township has received over CA$61 million in gaming revenue.
Source: “Niagara Falls receives $4M quarterly payment for hosting casinos” Niagara This Week, January 19, 2024