Horseshoe paid city $22.8M in taxes, impact grant funds

The Horseshoe Casino Baltimore said Wednesday that it has paid the city $22.8 million in taxes, lease payments and local impact grant funding in its second year of operation, up 13 percent from the previous year.

The casino has contributed more than $42 million in city taxes and impact grants since it opened.

The casino said its contributions to the city during its second year of operation, once payments for August are finalized, will include $13.5 million in city property tax and lease payments, and $9.3 million in local impact grants.

Roughly 5.5 percent of slots revenue from Maryland casinos goes to the state to disburse as local impact grants to support development projects in the neighborhoods surrounding each casino. A local development council identifies projects to receive funding.

Maryland Live, the state’s largest casino, has contributed about $85 million in local impact grants since opening in 2012.

The bulk of the Horseshoe Casino’s local impact grant support from its second year, $7.6 million, went to projects in the South Baltimore Gateway, an area surrounding the casino that the city is working to redevelop.

The city has developed a master plan for the area that focuses on improvements in transportation, the environment, public safety, education, health, community development, the local economy, quality of life and infrastructure.

An additional $1.7 million in local impact grants supported initiatives in Northwest Baltimore.