Lincoln casino shows off expansion. Will it help property tax relief?

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lincoln WarHorse Casino held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday for its completed phase two expansion.

Lynne McNally, the CEO of the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protection Agency, said earlier this year that the expansion will double the size of the building’s interior.

Carolyn Mach was waiting to get inside the casino at the ribbon cutting ceremony to see the new features.

Those include nearly 900 slot machines, 10 gaming tables and a new restaurant area.

Mach hopes the expansion will bring in more traffic so the casino will make more revenue and lower her property taxes.

“I’m still hoping it happens because everyone’s taxes are way too high,” she said. “And if this helps, I’m for it.”

Another casino visitor, George Maxson, said property tax relief is a long time coming.

“Hopefully, they get it straightened around,” he said.

The amount of property tax relief generated by the casinos has fallen far short of projections so far.

But McNally said that projection was based on six fully functioning casinos.

Not all of them are finished yet, which is slowing tax relief.

“A lot of the revenue has been stifled by the fact that it takes a while to build these buildings and get these up and running,” she said. “They’re going to see property tax relief as these places come open in their permanent location.”

CEO Lance Morgan said completions of the casinos are moving slower than planned because of the economy and higher interest rates.

“The problem is this was voted on four years ago, but the casinos just started opening because of the delay,” he said. “And so I think that issue will start taking care of itself very soon.”

But they said the casino isn’t fully finished yet.

The third phase of construction will add a hotel, an entertainment center and an upgraded racetrack.

For now, Morgan and McNally hope people enjoy the casino’s new features.

“We’re really hoping that people will come out, take a look at what we built,” McNally said. “And this is not the end; we’re going to keep going, and we’re going to get bigger than this.”