PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — Just weeks after a casino referendum was rejected by voters in nearby Richmond for the second time in three years, Petersburg officials are hoping to step in and win the jackpot for themselves.
Petersburg officials have submitted a request to hold a casino referendum of their own by 2025. Now, the decision to let the city roll the dice on a casino belongs to Virginia’s General Assembly.
In a recent meeting, Petersburg’s City Council presented its agenda for next year’s legislative session, saying that a casino could be the solution to a relative lack of economic activity and job opportunities in a city with a poverty rate that is over twice the state’s average.
During the meeting, Petersburg resident Barbara Rudolph voiced her concerns about getting approval from the state legislature to the board members.
“I think that it will be interesting to see how much fence-mending you all can do because whatever you try to do is still dependent on the General Assembly,” said Rudolph. “You still have to get designated as a host city in order to have a referendum.”
Despite growth taking place in the city since a near financial collapse in November of 2015, the city says revenue is still “insufficient to meet the demands of the city’s high-poverty population, address health challenges and improve K-12 education [and] workforce training.”
According to a 2022 study by Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission, a casino would bring in about $12 million in revenue for the city.
This is not the first time elected officials have tried to bring a casino referendum to Petersburg voters. Two identical bills introduced by Del. Kim Taylor and Sen. Joe Morrissey were both rejected by the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee in February of this year.
