The Argosy provides about $40,000 a year to Miles of Smiles, a free dental care program for children in Clay and Platte counties.Ĭhristy May is the program's executive director. The city eventually turned to the YMCA to take over operations for the community center.īesides tax revenue, the Northland casinos also have a big hand in supporting charitable programs. 'They built a community center that's 90,000 square feet that was never able to operate in the black.' 'It cost us money by having money,' Conarroe says.

The city provides free fiber internet service to residents and free vacuum leaf pickup in the fall.īut Conarroe says having so much casino revenue has nearly backfired in the past. Mark Conarroe served on the North Kansas City Council from 2012 to 2014 and he says that revenue from Harrah's has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the quality of life in the city. KCUR North Kansas City got 30 percent of their budget from Harrah's last year, which was $13.1 million. That's more than 30 percent of the city's total funds. The small community only has about 4,300 residents, but it took in more than $13 million in revenue from Harrah's North Kansas City for the 2015 fiscal year. In North Kansas City it's much the same story. ', suddenly if you don't have that money, you're not having to slash your entire police force or whatever.' 'Riverside has always tried to use a portion of gaming revenue for non-recurring expenditures,' Oliver says. It has allowed the city to build a levee and the Horizons commercial park.Īnd though those were both multi-million dollar projects, Oliver says the city has tried to be careful to not grow too dependent on casino cash flow. For the 2015 fiscal year, gaming revenue made up 25 percent of Riverside's total revenue. Riverside certainly wouldn't be able to operate the way it does without revenue from the Argosy. 'All you have to do is drive around Riverside and see all the great and tremendous improvements that have been made over the last 10 years.' 'No matter what you're looking for, if you're a Riverside resident, you've benefited in some way,' Oliver says.

Certainly not Donna Oliver, finance officer for the city. There are a lot of great stories that we've seen as a result of the Argosy being here.'Īnd few in Riverside would disagree with him. 'We've been able to support the city's effort to build infrastructure, the shops at Briar Cliff. 'It's been a transformational project for Riverside,' Teesdale says. KCUR Last year, the Argosy contributed $6 million to the city of Riverside.

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