Area Towns Split More Than $4 Million In Casino Grants
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Towns in Lower Bucks County will receive more than $4 million in grants thanks to Parx Casino’s revenue.
The grants to qualified towns were approved last Friday at the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County Board of Directors meeting.
The $4 million in casino impact grants will be put to use for a range of municipal projects, such as infrastructure upgrades, facilities projects, health and public safety initiatives, human services, and the purchase of equipment for emergency responders, police, and firefighters.
The following adjacent municipalities to Bensalem Township, where the casino sits, were eligible to apply for grants: Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Hulmeville Borough, Langhorne Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough, Lower Southampton Township, Middletown Township, and Penndel Borough. The county can also file grant applications.
Contiguous municipalities that will be most impacted by the casino are the focus of the program.
“Thanks to the leadership of recently retired State Sen. Tomlinson, we have seen firsthand the meaningful difference the Municipal Grant Program has made to improve and protect our communities,” said Ralph DiGuiseppe, chairman of the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County Board of Directors.
DiGuiseppe praised Tomlinson’s vision for program that has pumped tens of millions of dollars into communities.
Retired State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, a Republican who left office last month after decades of service, said in a statement: “The Municipal Grant Program has been more successful than I could have ever envisioned when first drafting the legislation to legalize gaming in the commonwealth. Since its creation, the Redevelopment Authority has saved taxpayers money by awarding over $56 million in grant funding to local municipalities for critical projects. These projects include grants to support our first responders with equipment such as radios, oxygen tanks, and vehicles; funding improvements to our local infrastructure; and working to support community initiatives throughout the lower end of Bucks County. I know that this money will be put to good use serving our community.”
The 2022 grants add up to just over $4 million. The amount was a jump over last year’s total and 2020’s amount. Both years were impacted by the pandemic.
The Bristol Borough-based Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County received 49 grant applications totaling more than $7.2 million in funding requests from area municipalities this year, according to Jeff Darwak, executive director of the authority.
“I am pleased that we can assist municipalities with important infrastructure, facility, health and public safety and law enforcement projects, many of which span numerous jurisdictions and involve partnerships amongst multiple municipalities.”,” he said.
According to the Pennsylvania Race Horse and Development Gaming Act of 2004, as amended and reenacted by the Act of October 30, 2017, funds for the Municipal Grant Program are supplied by 1 percent of the gross terminal revenue from Parx Casino. In accordance with the Municipal Grant Program established by the act using language added by Tomlinson, grants from gaming proceeds are approved by the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County Board of Directors.
