Petersburg Names Board To Steer Live! Casino Benefit Money

Petersburg, Virginia, has created a seven-member Local Advisory Board to decide how a pot of casino benefit money should be spent. 

The board will screen funding requests and recommend projects to City Council, using money set aside from payments tied to Live! Casino Virginia, the Cordish Companies resort now under construction in the city. 

The appointments were announced jointly by the city and Cordish on October 23, and the Petersburg Progress-Index reported the details on October 26.

Who Sits On The Board

The seven members are Rob Norton, president of the Cordish Gaming Group; Petersburg Vice Mayor Darrin Hill; state Sen. Lashrecse Aird and Del. Kimberly Pope Adams; former Petersburg mayor and councillor Annie Mickens; Sam Rhue, chair of the city's Economic Development Authority; and Richard Taylor, a former authority member who is active in local events.

City paperwork offers an earlier glimpse. Economic Development Authority meeting minutes posted by the city record Rhue saying he had been asked to participate on the Live Casino Advisory Committee, due to meet on October 1, with Pope Adams and Aird also named as participants.

Where The Money Comes From

Under the agreement that brought the casino to Petersburg, the city committed to setting aside 5% of each annual benefit payment it receives from Cordish. 

That fund is meant to pay for local priorities beyond the city's normal share of casino tax revenue, from education and economic development to housing revitalisation and support for local nonprofits.

The Progress-Index reports that, under the 2024 agreement, Cordish is paying Petersburg a total of $16 million over 10 years. 

When the temporary casino opened in January, Cordish also handed the city a one-time $15 million payment that sits outside the annual benefit payment.

How The Board Will Work

The advisory board reviews every request for money from benefit payments and passes its recommendations to the City Council, which has the final say. 

Mayor Sam Parham said in the joint statement that the board gives the city a clear route to delivering on the economic promises made when the casino was announced, with investments aimed at youth, seniors and residents.

Norton said in the same statement that the project will bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in new tax revenue, and that the extra funding gives the board and council a way to support city programs and services across a range of local needs.

It is the second casino-related advisory panel the city has set up. A separate board composed of citizens was also formed to provide input on how casino revenues are spent.

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The Casino Behind The Funding

Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia is a $1.4 billion resort off Wagner Road in southern Petersburg. 

A 75,000-square-foot temporary casino opened on January 22 and will run until the permanent resort is completed, scheduled for December 2027. 

Since opening, the temporary casino has produced more than $105 million in adjusted gross revenue and more than $16 million in state and local tax revenue, according to the Progress-Index.

The full project is expected to generate about $240 million in revenue for the city over its first 10 years. Petersburg is one of five Virginia host cities for casinos, alongside Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth. 

The sources reviewed do not say when the board will meet or when it will make its first recommendations to the council.