North Strabane: More Than $2.6 Million in Casino Revenue Expected in 2012

received $2.6 million in 2011 for being the host municipality for —and Manager Frank Siffrinn said the township is poised to realize at least that much in 2012.

Last year was the first for table games in the state, and North Strabane saw about $350,000 in 2011 from that part of the casino revenue pie, which equates to about two mills in taxes.

“We expect to receive more than we did last year,” Siffrinn said of the revenue stream.

In the past, the township has earmarked some of that revenue for major capital projects such as a multi-million dollar Municipal Park project and the construction of a public safety substation on Johnson Road.

“What we were able to do is some projects that we had planned for but couldn’t undertake financially,” the township manager said.

That money also helped the township purchase three pieces of equipment for the fire department, and funded the hiring of several paid firefighters—and that says nothing of the road maintenance program, which was beefed up with the help of that revenue.

“Within the next five years, every secondary road in the township will have been widened and the drainage will have been addressed in addition to the paving,” he said.

This year, the township will dedicate some of that cash to “finish out” the park and substation projects.

“Now that we built them, we have to equip them,” Siffrinn said.

In the future?

Siffrinn said that he sees the township continuing to extend sewage lines to parts of the municipality that are still without it—such as the Eighty Four area. Areas such as Lindwood and Christie roads are also in need of sewage.

The township will also likely look to outfit Muncipal Park with sewage, as it now operates on holding tanks.

And Siffrinn said the next big challenge for the community might be a new municipal building.

“We are busting at the seams,” he said of the current facilities. “I don’t have enough room. It’s only a matter of time before we look at a new municipal complex.”