DANVILLE, Va. – Danville could soon have a casino lobbyist.
Danville City Manager Ken Larking says the plan is to hire someone to work with lawmakers in Richmond to make sure the city gets the best deal if lawmakers decide to allow casinos to open up.
"Some of the things I believe (City Council members want) is, they want to see a minimum investment. They don't want to see some small investment come in and have a small casino. They want to see a significant impact," Larking said. "That number hasn't really been decided, but it needs to be a significant investment."
The tax revenue the city gets from a casino is also important.
"The local revenue from any tax that were to occur needs to be in line with what other states have done for localities," Larking said.
A bill going through the General Assembly would allow lawmakers to conduct a casino impact study this year.
They would then decide next year if they want to allow voters in Danville, Bristol, and Portsmouth to decide if they want their cities to have a casino.
Larking says how much the city's lobbyist would be paid hasn't been decided yet.
"It could be anywhere from a very small amount to a few thousand dollars," Larking said. "We haven't decided who to go with. There's a few things that we need to work out first before we go forward."
The money would come from the city's general fund and would likely be paid to the lobbyist on a monthly basis.
If the casino legislation dies, the city would stop paying the lobbyist.
Larking hopes to have a lobbyist in place within the next few days.