Gaming taxes collected by Vicksburg, Warren County and the Vicksburg Warren School District from bets placed at the four local casinos were down slightly once again in the month of September, closing out a fiscal year in which tax revenue totals were off by about 3.8 percent compared to fiscal year 2007.

September revenue was the second-lowest monthly total in the 2008 fiscal year, with a total of $567,002 coming in from the 3.2 percent tax. A second revenue tax is an 0.8 percent share of the state’s 8.8 percent revenue tax on casinos. The lowest monthly collection from the 3.2 percent tax came in November 2007, when $543,834 was paid in gaming tax.

It is unknown if the addition of the city’s fifth casino will equate to higher gaming tax revenues in the new fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Riverwalk Casino and Hotel, a $100 million complex neighboring Rainbow Casino off Warrenton Road, is set to open at the end of this month or early November.

The Vicksburg Mayor and Board of Aldermen and the Warren County Board of Supervisors, however, are not assuming casino growth will automatically lead to growth in gaming tax revenue. Neither board predicted additional gaming tax revenue in budgets prepared for the current fiscal year. The city — the largest benefactor of gaming tax revenue — lowered its projected revenue from casinos by $200,000 this fiscal year compared to 2007.

Gaming tax revenue in September for the state’s 29 casinos has not been released by the state gaming commission. However, the Vicksburg gaming market has closely mirrored a slight downward trend among all Mississippi casinos this fiscal year. The two casinos outside Philadelphia are not required to pay state taxes or report winnings because they are owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Casinos are exempt from state corporate taxes, paying instead an 8 percent state tax on revenue. They also pay property taxes based on the value of their investments.

In sum, the revenue taxes mean 12 cents of every dollar lost by a customer makes its way into state or local treasuries.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com.

CASINO TAX REVENUE

Vicksburg’s four casinos pay a 3.2 percent revenue tax to the State of Mississippi that is divided, with 10 percent going to schools, 25 percent to Warren County and 65 percent to the city. A second revenue tax is a 0.8 percent share of the state’s 8.8 percent revenue tax. It is split based on population proportions between Vicksburg and Warren County. These are the latest receipts.

September 2008

City………………..$443,169

County……………$208,883

Schools………….. $56,700

Fiscal year 2008

City…………….. $6,938,381

County………….$2,909,057

Schools…………..$790,059

September 2007

City…………………$482,451

County…………… $227,296

Schools…………….$61,717

Fiscal year 2007

City………………$7,019,109

County………….$3,025,041

Schools…………..$821,661

Fiscal year 2006

City………………$8,107,748

County………… $3,452,818

Schools…………..$943,028