Headlights of a vehicle stream down Mulberry Street Sunday night in front of the Vicksburg Convention Center near Harrah’s Casino. The $13 million Vicksburg Convention Center was funded in part by casino revenue.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

Second of five parts

[9/8/03]Gamblers aren’t the only ones hearing the ching, ching, ching of casinos.

Since the first boat opened in Vicksburg 10 years ago, the four local casinos have paid a combined $79.4 million to the local city, county and school governments. That’s enough money to buy an F-14 Tomcat U.S. Navy fighter jet, build the Eiffel Tower and have $10 million left over, an amount equal to the city’s total budget in 1990.

For the city’s share, Vicksburg has raked in about $51.6 million in casino-related taxes since 1993, and annual spending plans have tripled. Warren County has gotten about $21.8 million and the schools, about $6 million from local casino revenue alone.

Mayor Laurence Leyens said the city’s share of that money has been spent improving the quality of life for Vicksburg residents and building a better city.

“The town was in serious trouble back then,” Leyens said. “The casino money has not only allowed us to catch up, but to move forward.”

Some of the things Leyens points to that were built with the help of gaming revenue include the $1.7 million city pool built in 1996, the $13 million Vicksburg Convention Center, which opened in 1997, and the $1.5 million Jackson Street Community Center in 2002.

In the past 10 years, the city has also bought or built a new police department, two new fire stations and new equipment, an improved computer system and an 800 mHz radio system, and expanded Halls Ferry Park.

Many of those projects were paid for with bond money that was repaid from casino revenue. Leyens, whose administration has borrowed about $23.3 million for capital improvement projects, said that’s just one way of financing those projects over several years.