Sen. Dickey responds to Riverboat Foundation's letter

Last week Patty Koller, representing the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF), accused me of misinforming SE Iowa residents when I wrote an article exposing for 20 years how the WCRF claimed they support 18 counties that surround Washington County, when the vast majority of those counties have never received a single cent from the WCRF. That accusation is ABSOLUTELY false, unless the information that the WCRF has on their own website or the data they submit to the Iowa County Endowment Fund Program is incorrect. If there was any “misinformation,” it was at the hands of the WCRF.

When the WCRF was created 2 decades ago, they established a service area showing the counties that the WCRF would support. This is listed on the Iowa County Endowment Fund. Unfortunately, the WCRF has a poor record of supporting non profits in these 18 counties. In that time, $19 million has gone directly to Washington County communities (this is part of the 25% That Ms. Koller referred to). Then there was another $56 million from the Competitive Grant Fund with $52 million staying in Washington County! So out of $75 MILLION that the WCRF has donated in the past 20 years, $71 MILLION has stayed in Washington County!

This is in addition to all of the jobs, economic growth, and taxes that are paid to Washington County as a result of the Riverside Casino.

All casinos in Iowa must donate up to 1% of their profits to the state that then splits those funds up with the 84 counties that don’t have casinos. That is where most county foundations get their “casino money” which typically is around $150,000 a year. While that money is greatly appreciated by the counties that don’t have a casino, it is a far cry from the $3- $4 Million that gets donated to Washington County EVERY year! Does the WCRF really think that 95% of the revenue to the Riverside Casino comes from Washington County?

My point was that if the WCRF is going to take credit for supporting 18 counties in their designated service area, then they have A LOT of making up to do. However if they are going to do as Ms Koller stated, “the WCRF supports ONLY Washington County,” then they need to change their designated service area from 18 counties to 1 and citizens in these 18 counties might rethink if they want to support such an establishment that doesn’t want to share the support in return.

Sen Adrian Dickey