On February 28th, 2008, Mayor Mike Fahey commented that he would not consider raising property taxes to fund a brand new stadium but Douglas County said that it may cause their property tax rates to go up. One clause in Mayor Mike Fahey's financing plan states for the city to keep two million dollars in keno profits that yearly goes to the county.
To make up for that, the county predicted that they would have to increase their property tax in 2011 by 2/3 of a penny per 100 dollars of assessed valuation. That would be an increase of 6.67 dollars for a property valued a $100,000. County Board Chairman Claire Duda commented that Farhey's assumption that the brand new stadium will not affect the property taxes does not take into consideration that effect of the stadium funded by the county's budget.
Under the agreement made in 1991, Omaha will manage the day to day operations of keno for Douglas County. Both parties split the keno revenues between them. Just last year, the city earned about $8.3 million from the $63.3 million in keno bets and give $2.4 million to the county. The city earned $4 million, with both the state and administration costs earning the rest.
The agreement will end on 2011 and Fahey commented that he has no plans to renew the agreement and utilized the county's part to help fund the stadium. The county utilizes keno profits every year for some of their programs like giving monetary grants to agencies like the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and a whole lot more.
Duda commented that the keno profits fund programs that are important for the county's social commitment. The county is also thinking of legal means on how to keep the keno profits. The finance director of Omaha, Carol Ebdon commented that they make take over the managing of the keno operations outside the boundaries of the city and keep those profits for the financial needs of the county.
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John M. Thorpe
