OHIO VALLEY — The second quarterly payout to counties from the Casino Revenue Tax will not be made until October 31, but figures released last week show both Gallia and Meigs counties receiving nearly double the July payout.

In July, Gallia County received a distribution of $27,033.93 and Meigs County received a distribution of $20,670.44.

The recently released October payout for Gallia County will be $53,957.54, while Meigs County will receive $41,256.52.

Cuyahoga County continues to receive the highest payout at $1,106,586.01, with Vinton County receiving the smallest at $23,288.68.

Collected revenues accumulate in the Ohio Casino Tax Revenue Fund are placed into seven different funds. Fifty-one percent goes into the Gross Casino Revenue County Fund; thirty-four percent into the Gross Casino Revenue County Student Fund; five-percent into the Gross Casino Revenue Host City Fund; three-percent into the Casino Control Commission Fund; three-percent into the Ohio State Racing Commission Fund; two-percent into the Law Enforcement Training Fund; and two-percent into the Problem Casino Gambling and Addictions Fund.

In total, Ohio counties will get just over $20 million from the casinos for the third quarter.

Total revenue from the casino tax during the second quarter was $39,439,630.66 according to the Ohio Department of Taxation web site.

Distributions for the second quarter were as follows: County Fund, $20,114,211.65; Student Fund, $13,409,474.42; Host City Fund, $1,971,981.53; Casino Control Commission Fund, $1,183,188.92; Ohio State Racing Commission Fund, $1,183,188.92; Law Enforcement Training Fund, $788,792.61; and Problem Gambling and Addictions Fund, $788,792.61.

Distribution amounts from the county fund are determined by population of the county.

Currently three of the four Ohio casinos are open. The casinos in Cleveland and Toledo opened in May, with the one in Columbus opening just one week ago. The Cincinnati casino is set to open in the spring of 2013.

Money figured into the October payout was collected in July, August and September.

The next quarterly payout will take place on January 31, 2013. At that time the first distributions are scheduled to be made to the school districts.

The Casino Tax Revenue is a result of the constitutional amendment passed in 2009 which allowed for the four casinos to be placed in Ohio.

According to the Ohio Department of Taxation website, the Ohio Casino Control Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating casino operators, their employees, and gaming-related vendors. The Ohio Department of Taxation is responsible for administering the gross casino revenue tax and for ensuring compliance with all pertinent state tax laws, as well as administrative rules and policies as they apply to other taxes administered by the Department of Taxation.

The gross casino revenue tax is imposed on licensed casino operators at the rate of 33 percent. “Gross casino revenue” is the total amount of money exchanged for tokens, chips, and tickets at a casino facility, less any winnings paid out to wagerers.

The operators of each casino facility are required to file daily returns with the Department and to remit payments for the related tax liabilities every day that banks are open for business. Each return reflects casino gaming activity over a 24-hour period.

The tax revenue collected from the gross casino revenue tax is split among seven funds benefiting the counties and certain large cities, school districts, host cities, the Casino Control Commission, the Ohio State Racing Commission, law enforcement training, and problem gambling and addictions. Distributions to localities occur on a quarterly basis, except for school districts, which will receive their distributions semi-annually beginning in January 2013.