Wednesday, January 16, 2008
City Gets First Gaming Installment Too
With all of the hoopla generated by the County landing $22 million in gaming funds on New Year’s Eve and the whole controversy surrounding where $19 million of that money was intended to go (for airport debt) and where it ended up going (to the County budget), there was a third disbursement made from the Governor’s Budget Office on the last day of 2007. This one was to the City for retirement of the bonds related to the Pittsburgh Development Fund. Under the gaming statute, the City is supposed to get $60 million to retire the obligations.
Talk about something that has slipped under the radar. The City did budget $5.1 million for debt retirement from the gaming money in 2008, but its receipt generated only one small mention in the press. But the City has apparently made no public acknowledgement of the money and there is no official press release from the City on the money. Perhaps they sat back and watched the bait-and-switch game that has gone on with the County and the mysterious announcement that there was a $42 million debt that the County incurred for the airport that they were going to use the money to wipe out.
Or maybe the city has similar designs of its own. But the Act 53 language is pretty specific in that it is for the retirement of URA debt with “the utilization of funds transferred to the Regional Asset District”.
Much like a shell game, the slots money for the City (and the County, which got $2 million for retiring its economic development fund) is taking the place of RAD sales tax money that the City committed to paying off the economic development funds. Gaming permits the RAD dollars to go back to the City for general operations.
There is going to be more money flowing in from gaming this year and the next. Applicants in line for disbursements from the same Economic Development and Tourism Fund include the Penguins’ arena (minimum $7.5 million annually), convention center debt and operating deficits (minimum $3.4 million annually), a County infrastructure fund (minimum $6.6 million annually), and for a convention center hotel (minimum $3.7 million annually).
After that, perhaps in 2009, money that is set aside for the City and County due to being the host location for the Majestic Star will begin, and that money goes for general government purposes.
As of now, it is not clear when the money will come, only that it will likely happen before the end of the state’s fiscal year on June 30th.
Talk about something that has slipped under the radar. The City did budget $5.1 million for debt retirement from the gaming money in 2008, but its receipt generated only one small mention in the press. But the City has apparently made no public acknowledgement of the money and there is no official press release from the City on the money. Perhaps they sat back and watched the bait-and-switch game that has gone on with the County and the mysterious announcement that there was a $42 million debt that the County incurred for the airport that they were going to use the money to wipe out.
Or maybe the city has similar designs of its own. But the Act 53 language is pretty specific in that it is for the retirement of URA debt with “the utilization of funds transferred to the Regional Asset District”.
Much like a shell game, the slots money for the City (and the County, which got $2 million for retiring its economic development fund) is taking the place of RAD sales tax money that the City committed to paying off the economic development funds. Gaming permits the RAD dollars to go back to the City for general operations.
There is going to be more money flowing in from gaming this year and the next. Applicants in line for disbursements from the same Economic Development and Tourism Fund include the Penguins’ arena (minimum $7.5 million annually), convention center debt and operating deficits (minimum $3.4 million annually), a County infrastructure fund (minimum $6.6 million annually), and for a convention center hotel (minimum $3.7 million annually).
After that, perhaps in 2009, money that is set aside for the City and County due to being the host location for the Majestic Star will begin, and that money goes for general government purposes.
As of now, it is not clear when the money will come, only that it will likely happen before the end of the state’s fiscal year on June 30th.
