Warren County Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday to set aside funds from a proposed racino in Turtlecreek Twp. to aid with infrastructure improvements.

Miami Valley Gaming and Racing, LLC, a joint venture of Delaware North Companies Gaming and Entertainment and Churchill Downs Inc., is in the process of purchasing 120 acres of land near the intersection of Ohio 63 and Union Road in Turtlecreek Twp. for a racino, or combination horse track and video slot casino, from the state of Ohio. The land is near the Lebanon Correctional Institution and was previously used by the prison as a farm.

The property owners would ultimately pay the full property tax due every year, but its distribution would be handled differently. The resolution passed by the commissioners Tuesday allocates 75 percent of the property taxes collected from the facility for the next 10 years into a Tax Increment Financing Fund that would pay for road, sewer and other infrastructure improvements that would be need because of the increased traffic anticipated by the racino, said Warren County Commissioner Pat South. The other 25 percent would be used as regular property tax collection that would go to the Lebanon School District and Turtlecreek Twp.

“This is a parcel of land that was generating zero dollars in revenue previously,” South said.

The exact details of what the TIF resolution will finance will still need to be ironed out, said Warren County Commissioner Pat South.

The planned structure would move the Lebanon Raceway from the Lebanon Fairgrounds to the new facility, which would feature a a 188,000-square-foot casino and a five-eighths-mile track with a two-level grandstand that can seat 700. The casino will have up to 2,500 video lottery terminals as well.

The facility would bring 700 jobs, including 450 full-time jobs, and 8,200 visitors daily, the owners have estimated.

Miami Valley Gaming and Racing is in the process of purchasing the horse racing licenses used at the Lebanon Raceway from Miami Valley Gaming and Racing LLC and the Lebanon Trotting Club LLC for a reported $60 million.

Miami Valley Gaming and Racing Officials had told commissioners they hoped to break ground on the project in November of this year with a planned opening date in the first quarter of 2014, South said. The racino owners will present their plans at the Warren County Regional Planning Commission’s Oct. 25 meeting and come before the commissioners for approval of the site in early November.