Letter: Plan for casino revenue complete — What do you think?

Posted 12/18/17

To the editor:

After seven months, the Tiverton Casino Subcommittee completed their work and submitted a final report to the Tiverton Town Council at its December 11 council meeting. The …

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Letter: Plan for casino revenue complete — What do you think?

Posted

To the editor:

After seven months, the Tiverton Casino Subcommittee completed their work and submitted a final report to the Tiverton Town Council at its December 11 council meeting. The subcommittee was charged with developing a plan for the allocation of casino revenue, developing a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with Twin River – Tiverton, and addressing other issues regarding the casino.

The subcommittee tackled the HCA first as it was time-sensitive. The HCA was divided into two parts: HCA-Development and HCA-Operations. HCA-Development was recommended to the Town Council and given conditional approval by the council at its August 15 meeting. The subcommittee focussed next on HCA-Operations and forwarded a draft to the council at its last meeting. The subcommittee made some recommendations to the council but specific policy decisions will be made explicitly by the Town Council.

Finally, the subcommittee worked on possible allocation of the casino revenue. The tax revenue ($1 million) goes directly to the General Fund. At this point the casino gaming revenue (approximately $3 million) goes to the town. There are several proposals suggested for use of the gaming revenue. The subcommittee presented five models with percentages and categories for revenue disbursement. Although all the models included a category for 'capital improvements,’ the percentages varied as did the definition of what constitutes capital improvement.

The Subcommittee also came up with other issues for the council to consider, including the creation of an advisory board which would prepare a 'Needs Assessment' for the town as a whole, including a list of priorities, immediate/critical and short-term, long-term, and the cost of the projects before any money is allocated. The Report of the Subcommittee is in process of being put on the town website.

In addition to the five models and their commonalities, considerations and recommendations, and suggested advisory board, the report also includes definitions of capital improvements from the town ordinance, and a memo from the treasurer regarding debt service considerations.

I urge all of you who are interested in the allocation of casino revenue, including stabilizing and reducing town taxes, to read the report, talk to others, think about the pros and cons of each model, ask questions and share your thoughts. I would like to thank members of the subcommittee: Rep. Jay Edwards, councilors Joan Chabot, Denise deMedeiros, Randy Lebeau, and public members Chris Roemlein, George Walsh, and Carolyn Wieman.

Christine Ryan

Tiverton Town Council

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