North Carolina counties say infrastructure upgrades unrelated to casinos
Efforts to legalize casinos in North Carolina failed in 2023. But speculation is rife that a Las Vegas-style resort could come to the Tar Heel State as General Assembly leaders signal a continued push for gaming this year.
Public opposition to casinos — a study last year concluded that more than three-quarters of North Carolinians oppose gambling expansion — is made clear in the four counties where casinos were recently slated to be located Unease over legislative efforts to curb casino legalization. Include funding to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure. Almost as soon as government funds were allocated to these costly projects, rumors of infrastructure improvements linked to a possible casino began to surface.
Some believe the improvements are intended to make it easier to build such a large resort project in rural Anson, Nash and Rockingham counties. But local politicians have largely dismissed suggestions that the investments are linked to casinos.
Rockingham received a $54.5 million grant to upgrade its water and wastewater systems. Nash will receive $17 million and Anson will receive $6 million for wastewater projects.
The money is part of $2 billion in federal funding for a range of infrastructure projects across the country.
Unrelated Casino
Last year, North Carolina Interim Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) pushed for legislation that would allow commercial casino resorts in the three counties mentioned above. Berger's bill was crafted in partnership with The Cordish Companies, a Baltimore-based gaming and hospitality company that operates three casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Cordish executives have made substantial political donations to Berger and several other powerful lawmakers in Raleigh.
Berger initially joined House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) in backing the gambling company. But Moore later withdrew his support because he said he didn't have enough support in his chamber. That angered Berger, who hopes to bring economic growth to his hometown after reaching a compromise with Gov. Roy Cooper (D) to expand health care coverage through the federal Obamacare plan.
After Berger pledged to reintroduce the gambling bill in this session, which begins Jan. 17, county and local politicians said the infrastructure investment has been a long time coming.
We have to expand infrastructure, water and wastewater to accommodate growth,"Rockingham County Manager Lance Metzler told Carolina Public Press. Metzler said , these investments have been planned for “many years.”
North Carolina requires counties to fund their infrastructure projects and then submit invoices to receive reimbursement for the work completed.
School district recognizes project will help casino
While Rockingham and Nash County leaders say the investments have nothing to do with gambling, Anson County Manager Leonard Sossamon acknowledged the upgrades will make it easier to build a casino resort.
We don’t have the capacity to support facilities like casinos and we want to increase water and wastewater capacity,” Sossamon said.
Berger said last month that casinos are more than just places to gamble. That's why he called them "country entertainment areas."
“If you think it’s just gambling, say ‘casino.’ But it’s not just about playing. “It’s about solving economic growth and economic development issues in rural areas,” Berger said on his Spectrum News podcast. Tells Tim Boyum in "Tiing It Together".
Berger said his fellow legislators have done a good job promoting economic activity in the state's cities. But "it's not happening evenly across the state."
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Source: www.casino.org
