City says gaming revenues on par with last year, despite Cascades Casino strike
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KAMLOOPS — Employees at Cascades Casino have returned to work after being on strike for more than four months. However, it’s not known if the labour dispute will mean a drop in gambling revenues, of which a percentage goes to the City of Kamloops.
The city receives 10 per cent of all gaming revenue from the two casinos in Kamloops. Director of Corporate Services Kathy Humphrey says the city’s portion – $2 million, equals last year’s totals through the third quarter. She notes a drop in customers at Cascades Casino was offset by an increase in business at Chances casino on the North Shore.
“Overall we’re just about on part with where we were last year. It’s basically the growth we didn’t get,” said Humphrey, noting the city budgeting $200,000 more this year based on projected annual growth in casino activity. “It’s primarily because the other casino [Chances] on the North Shore picked up a lot of the business and we didn’t see the loss we thought we might.”
Humphrey expects this year’s revenues to equal last year’s total of $2.6 million. It’s money that goes towards beautification of the city and not towards essential projects.
