Niagara Falls handed $6.2 million cheque for hosting two casinos

Once again, Niagara Falls was a big winner at the Poker table… and the Blackjack table… and the slots.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) just announced their first quarter payments to casino host communities and Niagara Falls is being handed a cheque for $6,257,258.

Oddly, the first quarter covers April 1 to June 30 while January 1 to March 31 is the fourth quarter.

Regardless, this is one of the four-times-annually cheques Niagara Falls receives for being the host community to Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.

Since Casino Niagara opened in December 1996, the OLG calculates Niagara Falls has received $181,245,788.

These payments to host communities are based on a formula consistently applied across all gaming sites in Ontario using a graduated scale of gaming revenue at the hosted site.

“OLG’s land-based casinos are once again providing an important stream of revenue to gaming host communities through Municipality Contribution Agreements,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario Minister of Finance.

“Municipalities rely on this funding to maintain essential programs and services, and to help improve the lives of people across Ontario.”

Since 1994, host communities have received more than $1.86 billion in non-tax gaming revenue.