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Casinos' payout to state is a record
Message was posted: 11:57 Nov 2nd, 2006

User: Snake Eyes Rank: Casino Gold: 4404CG Contributor rating: 9600 Status: Offline

Casino news from http://www.tucsoncitizen.com:80/ Casino gambling continues to grow by leaps and bounds at Arizona\'s Indian casinos, which sent a record $26.3 million to the state in revenue sharing for the quarter ending Sept. 30. That\'s a 15.4 percent increase over the same quarter last year, which in itself was a record setting $22.8 million, according to the Arizona Department of Gaming. In all, casinos have contributed $235.5 million to the state in the three-plus years since Proposition 202 allowed tribes to add blackjack and additional slot machines. In exchange, the tribes agreed to open casino books to state auditors and share 1 percent to 8 percent of gaming winnings. Nearly half the shared revenue is distributed among Arizona\'s school districts, which will split $13.3 million from the most recent quarterly take. The remainder gets divided among problem-gambling programs, emergency services, wildlife and tourism funds, as prescribed by the voter-approved Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compact. The gaming department gets $2 million for administrative and regulatory expenses. Next quarter, the state will get substantially less because the revenue sharing is based on a sliding scale that increases during a tribe\'s fiscal year. Most larger Arizona tribes have fiscal years that end in September. Arizona\'s 23 Indian casinos have 12,795 slots, 169 poker tables and 290 blackjack tables. The five Tucson-area casinos operated by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Tohono O\'odham Nation have 3,099 slot machines, 32 poker tables and 67 blackjack tables, according to Gaming Department statistics. Tribes pay the state 1 percent of the first $25 million in profit, 3 percent of the next $50 million, 6 percent of the following $25 million and 8 percent once the cumulative profit during a year exceeds $100 million. WHERE THE MONEY GOES The Gaming Department share was distributed Tuesday as follows: ● $2 million stayed with the Gaming Department to cover administrative and regulatory expenses. ● $526,808 went for problem-gambling education, treatment and prevention. ● $13.3 million went to the instructional-improvement fund for schools. ● $6.6 million went to the trauma and emergency services fund. ● $1.9 million went to the Arizona wildlife conservation fund. ● $1.9 million went to the tourism fund. Source: Arizona Department of Gaming