Trumbull County is due for $182,668 and Mahoning County $103,557 in revenue sharing from the new casinos in Toledo and Cleveland.
The payments are the first of quarterly distributions from the Ohio Department of Taxation under state law that calls for a portion of the gross revenue tax paid by the casinos to be disbursed among counties, select cities and others, including school districts.
Commissioner Frank Fuda said Trumbull's share lessens a little the impact of losing $2.3 million in local government funds. ''It's a drop in the bucket from what they took away from us,'' Fuda said.
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Dealer Adam Hickey runs a roulette table June 29 at Cleveland’s Horseshoe Casino.
The money, he said, will be put in the general fund to run the county.
Likewise in Mahoning County.
Commissioner John McNally IV said the money would be put in a special revenue fund in the general fund budget. Some of it, he said, might be set aside for capital improvements or pay down debt.
According to the Associated Press, gamblers bet more than $417 million in the first full month the casinos were in business, while operators paid more than $371 million in winnings, or an 89 percent payout.
Total deposits by the state made in July were $19.7 million, according to the state.
The money will be paid to the counties and the state's eight largest cities, Youngstown being one of them, every three months. School districts will receive payment twice a year, starting in January 2013.
Youngstown Mayor Charles Sammarone said the $103,557 the city will receive could be used for home demolitions or for a program that helps residents become compliant with city housing codes.
''Any additional income we pick, we try to get it back to the community, the citizens, the taxpayers to help them with problems we're trying to eliminate,'' Sammarone said.
Farther south, Columbiana County will be $93,898 richer.
Commission Chairman Mike Halleck said that while commissioners were obviously pleased to learn of the windfall, they are not counting on receiving the same amount every time, which they expect to drop as the initial interest in the casinos wanes.
Halleck estimates the casino revenue will generate an additional $700,000 to $800,000 a year for his county, which if true would offset the county's loss of $600,000 in state Local Government Fund money this year.
"Ultimately, we would hope it would make up for the loss of LGF money," he said. "It would be a wash if it continues."
Halleck would like to see some of the money placed in their capital improvement account to cover unanticipated expenses, such as the $100,000 it is expected to cost to replace a section of the county jail roof.
"It could be very helpful and this gives us some options," he said of the casino tax revenue.
The amount each county receives is based on population. Also, if the most populated city in a county had a population of more than 80,000 in the 2000 Census, that city receives 50 percent of the county money, according to the state taxation department.
According to the state's Casino Control Commission, the adjusted gross revenue being reported by the Hollywood Casino in Toledo since it opened May 29 is about $23 million. For the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland, it was nearly $43 million.
The amounts - casino revenue and revenue sharing - are surely to increase once the casinos in Columbus and Cincinnati open. The Hollywood Casino is Columbus is set to open Oct. 8 and the Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati, in the spring of 2013, according to their websites.
The Lisbon Morning Journal contributed to this report.