Mardi Gras Casino & Resort Delivers $2.5 Million Annual Fee That Directly Benefits West Virginia Sen

Mardi Gras Casino & Resort CFO Joel Lawson (left) and GM Robert Lagg (center) present the license fee check to
West Virginia Lottery Director John C. Musgrave.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia Lottery Director John Musgrave accepted the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort’s annual casino license fee of $2.5 million from Mardi Gras General Manager Robert Lagg and Chief Financial Officer Joel Lawson today at Lottery Headquarters in Charleston. Each year the state’s racetrack casinos are required to pay the annual license fee that directly benefits West Virginia senior programs.

This year the annual license fees from Mardi Gras Casino Resort, Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort, Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino & Racetrack, and Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races will total $10 million.

One of the West Virginia Lottery’s key priorities is improving quality of life for the state’s senior citizens and since the Lottery’s creation in 1986 more than $627 million in lottery proceeds and licensing fees have benefited West Virginia seniors.

In fiscal year 2010, $64 million in Lottery proceeds and annual fees paid by the state’s casinos were devoted to West Virginia seniors. The West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services utilized this money to provide in-home health care that emphasized wellness, enhanced mobility and supplied meals to help seniors live independently at home for as long as possible. Lottery dollars also supported senior centers that provide activities, a place for friendship, and meals for homebound seniors throughout the state. Lottery funds have also enabled the centers to purchase specially equipped Hot/Cold trucks that are now delivering meals to seniors across West Virginia.