“The agreement is going to be good for the fairgrounds and it’s going to be good overall for the county,” Commissioner Tom Ariss said.
Officials from Miami Valley Gaming, Warren County, Monroe and Turtlecreek Twp. reached the 51-page agreement after two years of negotiations following legalization of racinos in Ohio.
The agreement will split more than $16 million in property taxes that improvements for the racino development are projected to generate over the next 10 years through a tax incremental financing agreement, according to John Caleb Bell, an attorney representing Warren County.
The money will be used for infrastructure improvements surrounding the $110 million racino, officials said.
Three-quarters of the property taxes otherwise collected for the local governments will be set aside in a special fund. The other 25 percent, estimated at $5 million, will be distributed to the Lebanon schools, the township, the county, joint vocational school district and other entities that would have otherwise benefited from full collection.
The 97-acre fairgrounds was left without its best tenant ($110,000 in lease payments in 2013) when Miami Valley Gaming moved live harness racing and simulcast operations to the new racino in Turtlecreek Twp. in December after more than 50 years at the fairgrounds in Lebanon.
“We would all like to get some new developments going at the fairgrounds now that the racing’s leaving,” said Joe Wilson of the Warren County Agricultural Society, which manages the fairgrounds.
The fairgrounds still features stables for 400 horses, some of which have been rented recently by horsemen who have moved into the area to race at Miami Valley Gaming’s new $25 million track and simulcast facilities.
Committees formed last summer proposed a range of redevelopment possibilities for the fairgrounds, including its continued operation at the existing site, just north of downtown Lebanon, as an equestrian center, event center or sports complex. The county also sought proposals from developers to gauge the site’s potential as a retail or commercial development.
This week, the county abandoned this option in favor of a plan to develop event and equestrian centers, as well as facilities for a veterinarian technician program, on the fairgrounds.
“It will certainly continue to be the home of the Warren County Fair,” Commissioner Pat South said.
Miami Valley Gaming reported revenue of $7,775,891 in its first full month of operation. The racino averaged $250,835 in daily revenue in January from its video lottery terminals, down from an average of $284,676 per day in the 20 December days it was open.
Also Thursday, Turtlecreek Twp. and Monroe officials reached agreement with Miami Valley Gaming to split funds to be raised in a new joint economic development district formedwith the township and Monroe through a 1.5 percent earnings tax on workers at the racino and net profits of the businesses within the 120-acre district.
The joint economic development district agreement was formed too late to apply to workers on the construction phase of the racino.
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