Austintown officials to decide what to do with $1 million from upcoming racino payments

July 5, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

By ROBERT CONNELLY

AUSTINTOWN

Township officials will decide over the coming months what to do with the $1 million they will receive from two years’ worth of racino payments.

“Right now, we all have an agreement [in the township] that we put that money in escrow,” said Ken Carano, Austintown trustee. “We didn’t put it in a budget, and we’re not going to put it in a budget yet. ... If the check comes in, it could be added to the budget in 2016.”

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed the state budget Tuesday, and within that budget was language for $500,000 payments for Austintown Township due by Dec. 31, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2016. Half of the funds will come from the state’s track-relocation fund and the other half from Penn National Gaming Inc. which operates Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in the township.

Penn National will pay $150 million into the track-relocation fund over 10 years for moving tracks from Toledo to Dayton and from Grove City, Ohio, to Austintown.

If the first payment arrives by Dec. 31, “then it will go in as part of the budget for 2016 that won’t be finalized until April 1, 2016,” said Mike Dockry, township administrator and roads superintendent. “There’s been some discussion between us at the administrative building and the police department for the need for more room.”

That more room would be used for evidence storage at the police department, 92 Ohltown Road, and for records storage by the township building, 82 Ohltown Road. “There has just been some preliminary discussion of adding onto the administrative building or the police department,” Dockry said.

Carano first discussed possible building improvements during an Austintown Board of Trustees meeting earlier this year. When asked about that recently, however, he said, “those plans have been put on the back burner,” and the racino money could be used as a rainy day fund.

Carano said once two renewal road levies are decided by township residents in November and, if those pass, the increased funds come into the township, then the financial picture would be more clear. “At that point, we’ll know where we stand on the income, and then we’ll decide where to disburse the funds,” he said.

“The board’s aware of the need for road resurfacing, so if I had to speculate, I would say the majority of that money will go into road resurfacing,” Dockry said.