By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
FRENCH LICK — French Lick Casino’s taxable adjusted gross revenue for February came in at $5,486,105, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission Summary of Wagering and Supplemental Tax released March 11. The figure is up from January by $47,434, or 1%, and up from February 2021 by $1,142,719, or 26%. The running AGR total for the first eight months of the current fiscal year now stands at $48,433,070, which is up from where it was this time 12 months ago by $11,153,784, or 30%.
Despite the year-over-year progress, the 2022 figures continue to lag pre-COVID numbers. That gap even widened a bit for February. The number for the month is off what was seen in February 2020 by $1,241,046, or 18%. The difference had been 15% for January, 11% for December, 22% for November, 7% for October, 13% for September, 24% for August, and 9% for July — the first month of the fiscal year. The running AGR total for February is now down from 24 months ago by $8,506,652, or 15%.
A step back to the state level shows the combined AGR total for the 13 Indiana casinos at $187,230,084 for February. That figure is up from January by $13,098,484, or 8%, and up from February 2021 by $59,667,150, or 47%. The running AGR total for the fiscal year is now at $1,526,147,014, which is up from where it was 12 months earlier by $351,388,851, or 30%.
Whereas French Lick’s gaming revenue has contracted since pre-COVID days, a comparison of the state’s current numbers to those from two years ago shows growth. The February combined figure is up from February 2020 by $413,791, or 0.2%. Thanks to more dramatic differences earlier this year, the running AGR total for the current fiscal year is up from where it was 24 months ago by $155,683,614, or 11%.
Turning to taxes for February, French Lick Casino’s paying wagering tax of $329,166 and sports wagering tax of $62,461, bringing total gaming tax for the month to $391,627 and the total for the fiscal year to $2,386,591.
Statewide, gaming taxes for February came in at $55,393,651 for wagering tax, $1,611,042 for sports wagering tax, and $4,131,787 for the supplemental wagering tax collected at the 11 properties that had been paying the old admission tax prior to its abolishment by the state. (French Lick and the two Indianapolis-area racinos do not pay this tax.) Total gaming taxes statewide for the month and fiscal year are, respectively, $61,136,480 and $402,976,952.