Prairie Meadows–Polk County partnership credited with $2.3 billion in local investment

Unidentified Speaker 1 said the long-running partnership between Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino and Polk County has driven large local investment, asserting, “$2,300,000,000 has been invested in Central Iowa because of that partnership.” Unidentified Speaker 2 added that since 1996 Prairie Meadows has returned “$2,300,000,000 of taxes and charitable giving” intended to ease Polk County’s fiscal burden.

Speakers described several specific uses of that funding. Unidentified Speaker 4 said Prairie Meadows recently awarded ChildServe a legacy grant to remodel and update inpatient complex-care units “so that children who have complex medical and respiratory conditions can receive the best quality of care.” Unidentified Speaker 5 noted this will be their “fifth VarietyStar inclusive playground,” and Unidentified Speaker 4 said the organization now operates a 3,000-square-foot indoor hydroponic farm growing fresh greens for meals and area food pantries. Unidentified Speaker 2 said, without offering independent verification, that an early childhood “character counts” resource was placed in every early childhood and kindergarten classroom in Polk County with a legacy grant from Prairie Meadows and a significant Polk County grant.

Speakers credited the public-private partnership with hundreds of millions in capital investment that would not have occurred otherwise and praised the arrangement’s longevity. Unidentified Speaker 2 called it “the best private public partnership in the world,” saying the model has worked for 36 years. No formal motions or votes were recorded in the provided transcript.