Times are tough!

Casino towns near Denver backing out of agreements that ended years of squabble

BLACK HAWK, Colo. (AP) — Black Hawk and Central City are dissolving agreements that had ended years of battling over a share of gambling revenue.

Central City used to be the top gambling town in Colorado before Las Vegas-style casinos went up about a mile south in Black Hawk in the mid 1990s. Black Hawk now generates $530 million in gambling revenue — 72 percent of Colorado's total — to Central City's 10 percent. In 2003, Central City officials decided to work with its sister city rather than fight it.

The Denver Post reports that Black Hawk officials say times are tough, prompting the city to back out of agreements to provide after-hours police service and vehicle fleet maintenance to Central City. A jointly funded shuttle service between both cities will end Dec. 29.