43
Racino payment amendment passes Ohio Senate 31-0; headed back to state House for concurrence
Senate amendment could settle racino payment debate
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Legislative compromise could bring Austintown Township a $500,000 payment by Dec. 31 due to the presence of the new Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course.
The Ohio Senate has approved House Bill 494 with an additional amendment for the $500,000 payments owed to Dayton and Austintown for their racinos. It now goes back to the House for a concurrence vote, and then to Gov. John Kasich for final approval.
The amendment states the payments will be made for just three years, and $250,000 will be paid by the track operator — Penn National Gaming Inc. — and $250,000 from the Casino Operator Settlement Fund.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, said that’s another name for the track relocation fund, into which Penn National is paying $150 million over the next 10 years for moving tracks to Dayton and Austintown from Toledo and Grove City, respectively.
“I don’t love it, but at least we got those dollars coming to the communities,” Schiavoni said on the three-year limit of the payments.
Previously there had been no year limit.
“Obviously, I argued that the code said they were supposed to receive $500,000 annually.”
The amendment also specifies that if a payment is not made, the Ohio Lottery Commission can revoke the license of the video-lottery- terminal license holder.
The amended HB 494 passed the Senate 31-0 and now heads back to the Ohio House to be concurred.
“They only have to make a decision on if they accept [House Bill] 494,” Schiavoni said.
Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for Penn National, declined to comment on the development Wednesday night.
HB 494 as a whole deals with regional transportation projects and local government issues.
The debate over the $500,000 has centered on who had to pay, how it would be paid and for how long.
The amendment also clarified which racinos apply.
Scioto Downs Racino in Columbus already had been excluded since Franklin County receives funds from Hollywood Gaming Columbus, also owned by Penn National. The amendment states that the payments only apply to tracks that were relocated and not exempt from a relocation fee, meaning only Dayton and Austintown.
State Rep. Ronald V. Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, who helped write the original memorandum of understanding for the payments in the 2012 racinos bill, said the $500,000 payments were meant for the six racinos.
He explained the $500,000 payment is similar to the host fees Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo collect from their casinos.
“I just find it unfortunate that the Republicans in the Senate at this point would not live up to the agreement in the conference committee,” Gerberry said.
But he added: “For Austintown and Dayton, it buys some legislators some time to get the agreement correct.”
State Sen. Bill Beagle of Tipp City, R-5th, made the motion for the amendment. He and Schiavoni had been working on an amendment to solve the payment issue.
The final version of the legislation will require Republican Gov. Kasich’s signature for approval. His office would not comment Wednesday night; a spokesman said legal counsel would review the final product.
Austintown Trustee Ken Carano, a former state legislator, talked about the payment situation at length Monday at the Austintown trustees meeting.
He said Wednesday night: “I have mixed feelings.”
“We obviously felt that the agreement, whether by the state or Penn National itself, we would get this $500,000 forever,” Carano said.
Carano was happy that the township will be getting three payments of $500,000 and thanked Schiavoni and Gerberry for their work.
Carano said Penn National “paid a lot of taxes, and this is a good compromise I think. The last thing we wanted to do was have a conflict between the political subdivisions of Austintown, Dayton ... going after its racinos.”