Sticking with five

The five per cent in slot machine revenues provided to municipalities across the province won’t be changing anytime soon, said the president and CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

Rod Phillips, appointed as the head of OLG in May, said there are no plans to change the five per cent figure despite municipal politicians asking for a higher share of the profit, but he respects the challenges local politicians face.

“It’s not easy being a mayor or councilor,” he said Thursday afternoon at Thunder Bay’s OLG Casino.

The corporation has given about $750 million back to Ontario municipalities since they’ve opened their casino doors and Thunder Bay has received more than $27 million.

“We hope to continue to deliver that level of support – over $2 million annually,” said Phillips. “I understand the pressures on local government and they are always looking for opportunities to get more non-tax revenue.”

Phillips is also tasked with cutting the $200 million the Ontario government asked of major agencies in their spring budget. The new president said OLG has committed to cutting $100 million and said he has a couple of years to form that strategy.

“At this stage, I’m just learning about the organization; it’s a big place,” he said. “We have over $7 billion worth of revenue we bring in every year. There’s about $5 billion worth of expenses; $100 million is a lot of money but I hear a lot of good ideas from staff about how to take that out of the system, provide a little bit more money for the services we support.”

Phillips is continuing to look at the immediate future as a learning experience and get to know as many of the OLG’s 18,000 staff members as possible and get to know the communities they have facilities in.