All 99 Iowa counties — including, for the first time, the 15 counties that have state-licensed casinos — would receive funding from sports gambling revenue for quality-of-life improvements under legislation being considered by state lawmakers.
The proposal would distribute roughly $23 million that has accumulated in a state fund since sports betting in Iowa became legal and subject to a tax of about 7 percent. It would send the money — and future sports betting revenue — to all 99 counties for local endowments that fund quality-of-life improvements, such as emergency response services.
Counties that have casinos are Black Hawk, Clarke, Clayton, Clinton, Des Moines, Dubuque, Greene, Lyon, Palo Alto, Polk, Pottawattamie, Scott, Washington, Woodbury and Worth.
