OHIO VALLEY — Local governments received there first quarterly payment from the Casino Revenue Tax on Tuesday. All 88 Ohio counties received a payment, which varied in amounts throughout.

Locally, Gallia County received a distribution of $27,033.93 and Meigs County received a distribution of $20,670.44.

Meigs County Auditor Mary Byer-Hill said that money received from the distribution goes into the County General fund. The money is not earmarked by the state as to what the counties may use the funds for.

Collected revenues accumulate in the Ohio Casino Tax Revenue Fund are placed into seven different funds. Fifty-one percent goes into the Gross Casino Revenue County Fund; thirty-four percent into the Gross Casino Revenue County Student Fund; five-percent into the Gross Casino Revenue Host City Fund; three-percent into the Casino Control Commission Fund; three-percent into the Ohio State Racing Commission Fund; two-percent into the Law Enforcement Training Fund; and two-percent into the Problem Casino Gambling and Addictions Fund.

Distribution amounts from the county fund are determined by population of the county.

Currently two of the four Ohio casinos are open. The casinos in Cleveland and Toledo opened in May, with the one in Columbus scheduled to open in the fall, and the Cincinnati casino to open in the spring of 2013.

Additional distributions are scheduled for Oct. 31 and again in January.

Cuyahoga County will receive the largest payment this quarter at $554,424.21, while Vinton County received the smallest with $11,668.15. Seven counties received less than $20,000 from the casino money, while 24 received more than $100,000.

In total, Ohio counties will get just over $7.7 million from the casinos for the second quarter.

Total revenue from the casino tax during the second quarter was $19,760,132.67 according to the Ohio Department of Taxation web site.

Distributions for the second quarter were as follows: County Fund, $10,077,667.67; Student Fund, $6,718,445.11; Host City Fund, $988,006.63; Casino Control Commission Fund, $592,803.98; Ohio State Racing Commission Fund, $592,803.98; Law Enforcement Training Fund, $395,202.65; and Problem Gambling and Addictions Fund, $395,202.65.

The Casino Tax Revenue is a result of the constitutional amendment passed in 2009 which allowed for the four casinos to be placed in Ohio.

According to the Ohio Department of Taxation website, the Ohio Casino Control Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating casino operators, their employees, and gaming-related vendors. The Ohio Department of Taxation is responsible for administering the gross casino revenue tax and for ensuring compliance with all pertinent state tax laws, as well as administrative rules and policies as they apply to other taxes administered by the Department of Taxation.

The gross casino revenue tax is imposed on licensed casino operators at the rate of 33 percent. “Gross casino revenue” is the total amount of money exchanged for tokens, chips, and tickets at a casino facility, less any winnings paid out to wagerers.

The operators of each casino facility are required to file daily returns with the Department and to remit payments for the related tax liabilities every day that banks are open for business. Each return reflects casino gaming activity over a 24-hour period.

The tax revenue collected from the gross casino revenue tax is split among seven funds benefiting the counties and certain large cities, school districts, host cities, the Casino Control Commission, the Ohio State Racing Commission, law enforcement training, and problem gambling and addictions. Distributions to localities occur on a quarterly basis, except for school districts, which will receive their distributions semi-annually beginning in January 2013.