The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has issued a second-quarter (July to September) non-tax gaming revenue payment of $555,039 to the Township of Centre Wellington for hosting OLG Slots at the Grand River Raceway in Elora.
To date, Centre Wellington has received more than $19 million in non-tax gaming revenue.
“The OLG revenue sharing program allows local governments to make significant investments in key public services such as health care, education and infrastructure,” said Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance.
“The additional revenues generated by the modernization of Ontario’s lottery and gaming businesses will allow for continued investment in our communities.”
These payments are being made under a new formula that determines the fee municipalities receive for hosting an OLG gaming facility as announced by OLG on May 17. The formula, part of the Municipality Contribution Agreement, will provide more money for host municipalities and is the same across the province.
The payments are based on an escalating scale of slot machine revenue that is consistent across all sites in Ontario.
Under the agreement, municipalities will receive:
– 5.25 per cent on the first $65 million of slot revenue;
– 3.0% on the next $135 million of slot revenue;
– 2.5% on the next $300 million of slot revenue;
– 0.5% on slot revenue above $500 million; and
– 4.0% on table game revenue.
OLG officials say modernization will increase revenue for the province and create some 2,300 net new industry jobs and about 4,000 service sector jobs. They add it will improve how lottery and gaming is delivered in Ontario and expand OLG’s approach to responsible gambling.
In 2013-2014, the province will allocate $115 million in gaming revenue to support charities through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Every year, the provincial government allocates funding to the province’s problem gambling program for research, treatment and prevention. The amount for 2013-2014 is budgeted at $41 million.
OLG is a provincial agency responsible for province-wide lottery games and gaming facilities.
