Richmond, Virginia, officials have expressed shock and disappointment that the state Senate budget proposal would block a re-vote on the casino referendum voters narrowly rejected last November.
At stake is the $565 million ONE Casino + Resort, which was to be developed by the media conglomerate Urban One.
The Richmond city council passed a resolution in January asking the Richmond Circuit Court to allow the second referendum in November. They believed a re-vote was on track when the state Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee, in a close vote, rejected state Senator Joe Morrissey’s bill to allow voter referendum on a casino in Petersburg.
However, Morrissey then convinced fellow Democrats to support a study of the feasibility of a Petersburg casino by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the investigative arm of the General Assembly. The move would put off the Richmond vote until after the completion of the JLARC study, no sooner than November 2023.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he was “disappointed” in his fellow Democrats in the Senate for supporting Morrissey’s proposal. “Nonetheless, I remain optimistic something will be worked out between the chambers that will allow for Richmond to pursue this game-changing opportunity again,” he said.
Stoney had said he’d offer city residents 2 cents off the real estate tax rate if voters passed the proposed re-vote, the equivalent of $22 million to $30 million. But the proposed tax cut didn’t appease all city council members. Councilor Stephanie Lynch said, “A proposed tax cut would mean less money in our city revenue and city general fund to be able to support not only our schools but our city service needs. But every year it becomes harder and harder when you are living in a city, a capital city with so much tax-exempt property. It gets harder and harder to generate the revenue that we need to support, to fully fund and support our schools.”
Morrissey, whose Senate district includes all of Petersburg and southside Richmond, said he supported the Richmond casino. But he started promoting a Petersburg casino the day after Richmond voters defeated the referendum, 51 percent to 49 percent. Morrissey’s measure would have allowed the Petersburg referendum while preventing Richmond from voting on a casino again until at least 2026.
Only Richmond, of the five cities approved by the legislature to host a casino, rejected the issue. Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth and Norfolk all overwhelmingly approved having a casino; all are under construction.
Richmond City Councilor Rita Trammell, who led the push for a casino vote do-over, said she believes there were numerous misconceptions about the project that led to its downfall. “My heart is shattered. I hear my citizens every day and night asking, ‘Why did this happen to us?'” she said.
Morrissey argued a re-vote was undemocratic and said the city should not be entitled to a re-vote simply because the outcome was unexpected.
