Ohio Business Votes

This constitutional amendment would authorize only one casino facility at a specifically designated location within each of the cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo. These casinos would pay a fixed tax of 33 percent of gross casino revenue received by each casino operator of the four casino facilities. Those funds would be distributed as follows:

51 percent among all 88 Ohio counties in proportion to each county’s respective population. Half of each county’s distribution will go to its largest city if that city’s population is above 80,000
34 percent among all public school districts
5 percent among all host cities
3 percent to the Ohio casino control commission
3 percent to the Ohio state racing commission fund
2 percent to a state law enforcement training fund
2 percent to a state problem gambling and addictions fund

The amendment would also require each initial licensed casino operator to pay a single $50 million fee to be used for state job training purposes and make a minimum initial investment of $250 million in its facility. It would permit approved types of casino gaming authorized by Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania as of January 1, 2009 or games subsequently authorized by those states. Those games could be operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the discretion of the casino operator. The casino facilities would be subject to all state and local laws and provisions related to health and building codes, but no local zoning, land use laws, subdivision regulations or similar provisions could prohibit the development or operation of the casinos at the designated sites.

The amendment would also create the Ohio casino control commission. It will license and regulate casino operators, management companies retained by the casino operators, key employees, gaming-related vendors, and all gaming authorized by this constitutional provision.