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Gov. Kasich vetoes racino amendment ; Austintown, Dayton don't get $500K
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Republican Gov. John Kasich’s line-item veto of the racino amendment within House Bill 494 means Austintown and Dayton will not get the $500,000 promised to them this year.
“At the end of the day, the loser is Austintown [and Dayton]; they were the ones that were promised the money,” said Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, D-33rd. “I don’t know what Austintown, Dayton and the other communities’ next step is.”
Kasich signed off on a number of bills Friday, and the only veto was a line veto removing the racino amendment from HB 494.
A statement on the reason explained the intent for those payments as “an ongoing revenue stream to the local communities in which they are located. Funds for this revenue stream are intended to come from racetrack operations, not the State of Ohio, which this provision would cause to happen.”
State Rep. Ronald V. Gerberry, D-59th, who helped write the original memorandum of understanding that dealt with the $500,000 payments, has compared it to a host fee that casinos pays.
It also goes on to say the payment was intended for all six racino communities — the state’s seventh racino, Scioto Downs Racino in Franklin County, is excluded because it receives money from Hollywood Columbus Casino — and not just Austintown and Dayton.
The six racinos that Kasich argues apply for the annual funds are the following: Thistledown Racino, North Randall ; Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park, Northfield ; Miami Valley Gaming, Lebanon; Belterra Park Gaming and Entertainment Center, Cincinnati; Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, Austintown; and Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway, Dayton.
“[Kasich] believes there is a better way to do this, and he must feel pretty darn strong to veto those lines because he knows those two communities won’t receive their money, but he wants all six to get it,” Gerberry said. “I know that our members of the house on both sides of the aisle believe those communities are entitled to these funds.”
Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for Penn National Gaming, Inc., released a statement on the line veto.
“We applaud the governor for his line-item veto of what we viewed as an unlawful tax that would have been imposed only on our two racetracks,” Tenenbaum said. “While we don’t begrudge our host communities seeking additional funds from the state, we firmly believe those dollars should come out of the unprecedented $150 million in fees we paid the state just for the right to do business in Dayton and Austintown.”
Austintown Trustee Ken Carano received a call from a representative of the governor’s office Friday morning and he said that person told him the veto was coming.
“I believe the governor is not happy with the idea that the state is paying any of it,” Carano said. “We knew that the governor was not happy about it when they passed it out of the Senate into the House so it wasn’t a giant-sized surprise.”
Both Schiavoni and Carano said they were told by officials from Kasich’s office that the matter would be picked up again once the new state legislators are sworn in Jan. 5.
“At this point, it has to be driven by the governor,” Schiavoni said. “I think he’s sending a message that he’s going to have a say in this.”
Schiavoni and Sen. Bill Beagle of Tipp City, R-5th, scrambled to get an amendment onto a bill that had already passed the House — HB 494 — and that was concurred earlier this week. That amendment determined only Austintown and Dayton applied, both are owned and moved to their municipalities by parent company Penn National. It then specified the $500,000 would be split 50-50 — $250,000 from Penn National and $250,000 from the track relocation fund — and would only be for three years.
Penn National will pay $150 million into that fund over the next 10 years for moving tracks from Toledo and Grove City, Ohio, to Dayton and Austintown, respectively.
“The ideal solution is for the governor’s office and the track license holders to work it out,” Beagle said.
Austintown had planned to put the $500,000 away in the general fund while officials discussed what improvements need to be made to the township, be it police or fire, etc., Carano said
Dayton Democratic Mayor Nan Whaley said this week that her administration had planned for those funds to be within the city’s general fund to help offset cuts in state funding.
“You don’t make budgets on money that is promised to you until that money comes,” Carano said. “It will not affect next year’s budget as planned, but certainly we will miss it.”
Penn National had said it was not willing to pay any part of the $500,000 payment and called it a new tax.
“There were a number of ideas floated. There was language that the governor’s office would be accepting of and maybe that’s a place to start next time and maybe that will be part of a solution,” Beagle said.
“I’m just hopeful that the persuasion of the governor’s office is very strong in 2015 on the majority party of the Senate. The reason that this is not getting done is that there are some folks in the majority that believe that the host racino communities shouldn’t be paid $500,000 a year and they’ve been able to stop it. That’s unfortunate,” Gerberry said.