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Lee County supervisors vote to oppose Bristol proposal to change casino-fund distribution
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Summary
At a Jan. 6, 2026 recess meeting the Lee County Board of Supervisors instructed their regional representative to oppose a Bristol proposal to change how casino-generated proceeds are shared, citing a likely 22–23% reduction to Lee County and risk to the existing regional agreement.
The Lee County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 6, 2026 voted to instruct their regional representative to oppose a City of Bristol proposal that would change how casino-generated proceeds are distributed among the region's 14 member localities.
The board's discussion focused on a Bristol plan known in committee materials as 'option 5,' which a board member said would more closely mirror allocations used by the Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority but would reduce Lee County's share "about 22, 23%" compared with this year. The board member added that the proposal would affect casino proceeds only, not hotel revenues such as those from the Hard Rock property.
"This is just casino funds...from this year, it was gonna cut it down about 22, 23% of what we would receive on those funds," said the committee member, explaining the committee's concerns about the local fiscal impact. He warned changing the distribution by amending the Code of Virginia could "open up a Pandora's box," because the underlying regional agreement was intended to share proceeds across the 14 localities.
The same committee member said he had spoken with Delegate Kilgore and Senators Hackworth and Pillon, and that their advice was to take no action because there appeared to be little appetite in the General Assembly for such a change. The speaker characterized the matter as regional in scope and said localities would reconvene next week after their respective boards had considered Bristol's proposal.
Chair (S2) moved "to leave it alone," which the board seconded and approved by recorded aye responses in the transcript; the record does not contain a formal roll-call tally by name in the public transcript. The motion directs Lee County's regional representative to oppose Bristol's redistribution proposal when the regional body meets.
The board also approved a brief closed session request for a personnel matter and the dispersal of public funds. After returning to open session, members accepted Mr. Wright's resignation and voted to advertise the vacant position. The meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn.
Next steps: the regional committee will reconvene after each member locality's board meets; the Lee County representative will cast the county's vote at that regional meeting as instructed by this board.