| | |  | Last Updated: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 |  | | | Local Council Agrees to Share Gambling Profits
- Monday, 10 Apr 2006
Pennsylvania local council in Lehigh Valley has agreed to share gambling profits and costs. The deal regarding gambling money is an example for other local councils. Political leaders were clearly impressed and greatly approved a plan by Lehigh Valley to share the costs and problems of gambling. The political leaders said that the gambling money agreement was a ‘water shed moment’ and one that should be adopted by other local leaders. They said the agreement recognizes that the impact of gambling on the valley would have no boundaries, meaning Lehigh and Northampton counties, as well as Bethlehem and Allentown, should share the good and the bad that comes from it.
Each city in the Valley has a gambling company that has applied to the state to get a license to build a slots gambling venue, but only one city is likely to get the approval. The agreement reached between the cities is that losing city would receive about $3.3 million a year in host fees from a gambling casino, while the winning city would get about $8.7 million a year, mostly in gambling revenues.
The mayor of Allentown said that it is not good government if all the cities were at each others throats about financial matters. The entire area will either win or lose from the gambling complexes and he said that responsible local governments should accept the burden jointly. He said if the gambling complexes heeded expansive profit then everyone would benefit and likewise the potential social problems related to the casinos need to also be shared. | |
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