As Richmond attempts to move forward with a second gaming referendum, the Virginia city is set to review two competing casino revenue proposals. In an effort to sweeten the proposed ONE Casino + Resort project in South Richmond, Mayor Levar Stoney had suggested a 2-cent reduction to the city’s real estate tax rate. But this idea is now facing opposition.
After voters narrowly rejected plans for the nearly $600 million casino resort last November, the Richmond City Council voted in January to hold another popular vote, with backing from Urban ONE CEO Alfred Liggins. At the time, Stoney announced the tax cut proposal, which is contingent on voters approving the casino project. However, not all councilors are on board.
“A proposed tax cut would mean less money in our city revenue and city general fund to be able to support not only our schools but our city service needs,” said Stephanie Lynch, Richmond City Councilor, according to WWBT.
Lynch, who argues the two-cent reduction would be equivalent to between $22 million and $30 million, says she would rather take that money and set it aside to provide funding for Richmond Public Schools. The councilor will be introducing the idea to her colleagues, which could potentially lead to a vote between the competing proposals for casino revenue.
“Every year it becomes harder and harder when you are living in a city,” argued Lynch. “A capital city with so much tax-exempt property; it gets harder and harder to generate the revenue that we need to support, to fully fund and support our schools.” The proposal could be debated at the council’s next meeting, slated for this month.
Mayor Stoney will be officially presenting his budget for the upcoming fiscal year this Friday, reports the cited source. Last year, it stood at about $770 million, with no increases in property taxes, while the city’s public utility rate did increase.
According to him, casino revenue could offset taxes and provide for schools. “If the referendum is successful, we will utilize the revenues from that project to modernize city and school infrastructure,” Stoney had promised.
In November, Richmond became the only chosen Virginia city to vote down a proposal for a casino while Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth and Norfolk passed similar referendums in 2020, thus allowing gambling developments. Richmond rejected the proposition on a margin of 49% to 51%.
According to Urban ONE, many Richmonders were “confused” about where the money from the project would be going, and the business committed to being more specific should a second referendum go forward. The City Council defended holding a second vote arguing that the slim margin by which the first one failed warranted a second try.
However, since the voting failed in November, Petersburg has been pushing for the gambling referendum to be brought to the city, while seeking to bar Richmond from re-voting on the matter for the next few years. This could potentially happen.
A new provision in the Senate budget for Virginia, introduced last month, would block Richmond from conducting a second vote on the casino project until November 2023, while the state completes a study of an alternative site in Petersburg.
The budget amendment is included in Senate Bill 30, and is not featured in the House version. The conferees from the Senate and House are set to get together to decide which amendments will be agreed to, time at which the provision’s fate will be decided.
The provision of the budget directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to engage an independent consultant “for a limited review of the potential state and local revenues that may be generated from a casino located in the city of Petersburg.”
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/03/04/61627-virginia-richmond-to-consider-competing-casino-revenue-plans-before-potential-second-referendum
