Posted on: January 14, 2025, 02:36h.
Last updated on: January 13, 2025, 04:37h.
A lawmaker in Virginia who represents a neighboring community to Petersburg where a $600 million casino is planned wants a piece of the revenue the resort will generate.
Del. Mike Cherry (R-Colonial Heights) has represented Virginia’s 66th district since January 2022. Cherry, a retired United States Air Force master sergeant and a pastor by day, voted in favor of the legislation that allowed Petersburg to ask its residents if they support allowing a Las Vegas-style resort to come to town. Petersburg voters overwhelmingly backed the $600 million pitch from Baltimore-based Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise during the 2024 election.
Cherry, however, doesn’t think only Petersburg should benefit from the property that will be known as Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia. Soon after the Virginia General Assembly convened last week on Jan. 7 for its 2025 session, Cherry filed House Bill 2232.
HB 2322 seeks to establish a panel consisting of representatives from Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights, plus Dinwiddie and Prince George counties. Dubbed the Tri-Cities Improvement Commission, the five-person body would determine how the local tax revenue the casino delivers should be dispersed.
Spending Structure
Virginia lawmakers authorized casino gambling in 2020 but only in a handful of cities and on the condition that any gaming project secure the public’s support through a local ballot referendum. Richmond had initially qualified, but after voters in the capital city twice rejected a casino plan, Petersburg officials pounced to move the untapped gaming opportunity about 25 miles south.
The 2020 commercial gaming statute taxes casino win at 18% on annual revenues up to $200 million. The graduated tax increases to 23% on revenues up to $400 million and 30% on revenue upwards of $400 million.
Of the tax money, 6% stays with the casino’s host city — Norfolk, Danville, and Portsmouth. Bristol, home to Hard Rock, does things a bit differently with its own version of what Cherry is proposing.
After Bristol voters approved the Hard Rock development, a statute was passed to form the Regional Improvement Commission and increase the local share to 7%. The body consists of representatives from 12 area counties and two cities that share in the 7% of Hard Rock’s adjusted gaming revenue benefit. Cherry is pitching a similar regionwide casino-sharing plan.
The purpose of the Commission shall be to receive disbursements made to it, establish funding priorities from such disbursements for member localities related to improvements in the areas of education, transportation, and public safety, and make annual payments divided equally among the jurisdictions to fund the established priorities as determined by the Commission,” Cherry’s bill reads.
Each locality’s appointed commissioner would serve for two years.
Petersburg Opposition
Petersburg will presumably oppose sharing a significant amount of its casino cash. City officials, including Councilor Marlow Jones, have proclaimed that the Live! development is Petersburg’s “moment.” They believe neighboring communities will already benefit from Live! Virginia.
Cordish expects its Petersburg casino to generate an economic stimulus of $2.8 billion to the Central Virginia region during the resort’s first 10 years in business. The project is also forecasted to create 7,500 construction and permanent jobs with an average compensation of $70K including benefits.
