What to do with Happy Valley Casino tax revenue? Why it may be too early to say
There might soon be millions in casino tax revenue in Centre County, but local governments aren’t ready to say how they’d like to split it.
Happy Valley Casino, reportedly opening this month, is projected to bring between $762,000 and $1.4 million to both the county and College Township in its first year through a state-run program funded by gaming taxes.
The county and township are each entitled to 2% of slot machine revenue and 1% of table game revenue generated in a given year, though there are different projections of how much that might equate to.
College Township projected in its 2026 budget that $762,000 in gaming tax revenue would make its way to the township. A report commissioned by the township last year projected $1.2 million. A separate report from the casino’s developer estimated $1.4 million.
Over 10 years, the township projected total revenue at $13.7 million, and the developer $15.8 million.
Other municipalities throughout Pennsylvania have used gaming taxes to fund new snow plows or upgrade parks, but county and township officials alike say it’s too soon to say what, if anything, the money should go to.
Mark Higgins, chairman of the county board of commissioners, explained it isn’t clear yet if enough money would be generated by the casino this year for the state to send the county its share.
“We’re kind of going back and forth with the Commonwealth [Financing Authority] whether there’d be enough money by 2027 to actually have a distribution or it might, unfortunately, wait until 2028,” Higgins said.
The authority is tasked with administering gaming-funded grants to counties for projects “in the public interest,” and a spokesman for the authority’s parent agency said if revenue is low enough in a given year, distribution of funds might not occur until the next. It is not a formal policy, the spokesman noted, and there is no minimum amount per se that would warrant a distribution of funds.
The other commissioners, Amber Concepcion and Steve Dershem, didn’t have anything to add.
At the township level, at least four members of the five-person College Township Council are not betting on casino revenue until there’s a clearer idea of how much there will actually be, and until the council can actually discuss it.
“Definitely pondered but have had plenty of things in real time to keep me/Council occupied while the casino made its slow walk towards opening its doors,” Councilman Richard Francke wrote in an email. “And projections are exactly that till real; I think our budgeting of those for 2026 reflects that.”
Of the $762,000 in casino tax revenue projected by the council in its 2026 budget, only 17% is expected to be spent over the course of the year. In other funds administered by the council, the vast majority or the entirety of the year’s revenue is projected to be spent.
Councilwoman Gretchen Brandt wrote in an email that decisions on where the money would go “will be collaborative” among council members. Until they can begin those discussions, Brandt wrote, she wasn’t comfortable being specific.
Chairwoman Susan Trainor, who Francke said would be responsible for scheduling deliberations over casino revenue, wrote in an email it is too early to say when those discussions would commence.
The Centre Daily Times and other outlets have reported the casino will open in April, though, a full opening date has not been announced. Casino officials said Friday it would temporarily open April 24 and 25 for two “test days” as required by the commonwealth.
A casino spokesperson, Alaina Woelk, did not respond to phone calls seeking more information on an opening date.
CDT reporter Jacob Michael contributed reporting.
