Westmoreland County commissioners want a bigger piece of the state’s gambling profits.
Commissioners submitted an application for $1.5 million in funding through the Commonwealth Financing Authority. The money is collected through assessments on slot machines and table games at Pennsylvania’s casinos, including Live Casino Pittsburgh at Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield.
The program was put in place as part of legislation that authorized small casinos to operate in four counties in Pennsylvania: Westmoreland, Berks, Cumberland and York. These are in addition to the larger facilities such as Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows in Washington County.
The law provides for municipalities where the small casinos are located to receive grants from revenue collected at those facilities. A second grant program allows municipalities throughout the state to apply for funds generated by revenue from all of the state’s casinos.
Westmoreland County has received limited funds from both of those programs.
“It would be nice to have a direct funding stream like they have in Allegheny and Washington counties,” said Westmoreland Commissioner Sean Kertes.
Since 2022, Westmoreland County has received just one $58,000 grant from the casino funds. It was used to purchase an industrial mower for parks maintenance.
Finance director Meghan McCandless said the county last year submitted an application for $193,300 to buy additional equipment for the parks. In a separate proposal, the county asked for $999,000 to replace a switch gear for a generator at the courthouse.
Neither project has been approved, McCandless said.
The county said it wants the next round of funding to include money to install new heating and air conditioning equipment and a climate control system at the courthouse.
More than 40 municipalities throughout Westmoreland County received grants in 2023 that totaled $8 million, including $4 million allocated to Hempfield as the casino’s host community, said state Department of Community and Economic Development spokeswoman Penny Ickes.
In March, the state agency approved nearly 40 additional grants for more than $2.1 million for community projects. The Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp., which is an entity separate from county government but presided over by the commissioners, received an $18,000 grant to replace a geothermal heat pump at the agency’s Greenforge Building in Hempfield.
Westmoreland County municipalities submitted 97 eligible applications requesting more than $14.3 million in the most recent funding round, according to Ickes.
Based on current projects, beginning next fall, the amount of funding expected to be available annually for projects statewide is approximately $200 million. Annual estimates for projects in Westmoreland County are between $1.75 million and $2 million, with awards typically made in the spring, Ickes said.
Commissioners, acting as the WCIDC, on Thursday also agreed to apply for three additional grants, totalling $1 million, to renovate vacant space in two industrial parks and for the purchase and installation of another seven heat pumps at the Greenforge Building.
County officials called on state lawmakers to revise the grant program to provide a dedicated funding stream to the county.
“This is long overdue. We need to make capital improvements in this historic building, so we’re extremely hopeful in this application. County government gets nothing directly from the casino (revenue). We have to apply for it and it’s flawed legislation. It’s a shame we have to apply,” said Commissioner Ted Kopas.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, who helped craft the casino grant legislation, could not be reached for comment.
County officials said new funding streams are needed. The county’s $456 million 2024 budget was balanced through a 32.5% tax increase and about $8 million in American Rescue Plan funds commissioners used to help pay for county operations and annual dispersals to outside agencies.
Covid relief funds are expected to dry up within the next year and won’t be available to use beyond 2026, officials said.
