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Franco highlights casino, cannabis votes as major revenue moves for Aurora
Summary
Alderman Carl Franco said backing a $360 million casino project and allowing legal cannabis sales were votes that improved Aurora's fiscal outlook, citing an estimated $8–10 million in annual revenue from the casino and the need to 'capture the revenue' from cannabis sales.
Alderman Carl Franco pointed to two votes during his tenure that he said materially affected Aurora’s finances. He described support for a roughly $360 million casino project that he said is expected to bring about $8–10 million a year in revenue to the city. He also defended votes to allow legal cannabis sales in Aurora so the city would not lose sales and tax revenue to neighboring towns.
Franco explained his reasoning bluntly: "If they're gonna smoke it in Aurora because it's legal, why aren't we capturing that money?" he said, adding that while such votes were sometimes controversial they had clear budgetary benefits. He called both decisions among the more significant financial choices he made while in office.
