The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has received $770,000 through an annual payment from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).
The proceeds stem from operations at Gateway Casinos in Dresden. The money received from the OLG's 2017-2018 fiscal year is a $70,000 boost from the $700,000 Chatham-Kent received from 2016-2017.
“OLG is proud to be a vital part of Chatham-Kent for more than 17 years and we look forward to continuing to build on that support," said Jake Pastore, OLG’s director of municipal and community relations.
Every year, the OLG funds are allocated towards offsetting costs of municipal services.
“This significant investment in our community represented approximately one half per cent of the 2018 municipal budget,” said Mayor Darrin Canniff in a statement. “This is money that directly supports the delivery of services to citizens and contributes to the overall wellbeing of the community.”
Since the slots opened at the Dresden Raceway in 2001, Chatham-Kent has raked in more than $11 million.
The OLG funding announcement was made Monday during a ceremony at the Civic Centre in Chatham to mark the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics.