OXFORD — The town will receive $2.16 million from Oxford Casino & Hotel’s 2022 table games and slot operations, according to the Maine Gambling Control Board, marking the highest annual distribution since the casino opened in 2012.
The report reveals an increase to the town of $293,000 over 2021. More importantly, it marks a recovery from 2020’s pandemic performance of $860,400 when the casino was closed for months and opened to limited capacity for several more. The difference between 2020 and 2022 is $1.3 million.
The increase for the town has yet to be calculated because the town fiscal year is July 1 to June 30, and the Gambling Control Board reports by calendar year.
But according to Oxford’s 2022 Town Report, during the 2018-19 fiscal year it received $2.08 million in casino revenues, which accounted for 36% of its annual revenue. By comparison, between July 2020 and June 2021 Oxford’s take from casino distribution fell to $1.03 million, 24% of total town revenues.
Oxford’s budget for 2022-23 includes $1.48 million from Oxford Casino (29% of revenue), a projection it will easily exceed.
For Oxford County, casino revenue topped $1 million for the first time since its opening, coming in at $1.08 million. That is the best performance since 2018, when the county’s distribution was $953,000. During the pandemic year of 2020, Oxford County saw $430,00 from casino revenues.
In Oxford, revenues from the casino are generally allocated to public safety services, transfer station operations and debt and tax relief.
The county has traditionally applied its share to tax relief as well.
As the casino’s host community, Oxford receives 2% of its slots and table games revenue. As host county, Oxford County receives 1%.
Education beneficiaries of casino revenue include Maine’s Department of Education, the University of Maine System, Maine Maritime Academy and the state’s community college system. In 2022 those institutions’ shared take totals about $28.8 million.
The Penobscot and Passamoquoddy tribes of Maine 2022 revenue share is $3.6 million.
Casino revenue is also provided to some of Maine’s agricultural economies. The total amount of 2022’s allocation is $4.5 million.
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