The mayor of Point Edward is pleasantly surprised by the latest revenue payment from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission.
Bev Hand admits she didn't know what to expect, given the provincial COVID-19 occupancy restrictions placed on Starlight Casino over the summer.
"They've gone through a difficult time and it impacted their operations, which also impacts all the people that work there, they are a larger employer," Hand told Sarnia News Today. "We had been anticipating this letter and waiting to see what the results would be and we were very pleased with the amount that we did receive."
Pt. Edward Mayor Bev Hand (BlackburnNews.com photo by Melanie Irwin)
The second quarter non-tax gaming revenue payment for July to September was $316,674. Before the pandemic hit in 2019, a typical payment was around $600,000.
"It appears that we're starting to get back on track. It was more than we anticipated, so it was good news for us and it's starting to look like we're normalizing."
The casino reopened in July, but under Step 3 of Ontario's reopening plan only 50 per cent capacity was permitted.
"Any money that we make, part of it is given back to the community and part of it is used for our capital projects and what we did early on in the pandemic, when we knew we were losing that revenue, we went through our capital list and took out everything that wasn't essential or anything that could wait," said Hand.
She said any funding received from the casino this year will be directed toward ongoing projects.
The City of Sarnia received $82,841 from the OLG for hosting the Gateway Casino at Hiawatha.
