by Paul Post
The New York State Senate’s 2008 budget proposal would help the New York City Off Track Betting Corp. stay solvent by allowing it to defer $2-million in payments.
The Senate’s plan is in response to New York City OTB having submitted a draft closure plan to Mayor Michael Bloomberg with layoffs possible by mid-April. New York City OTB said that it would have run out of cash by mid-June without the deferment.
Ten buses transported 1,500 New York City OTB employees to Albany, the state capital, on Tuesday. The employees hoped to convince legislators to address the company’s concerns.
“Rest assured, that working with new Governor [David] Paterson and the Assembly, we are going to come up with a solution this session that keeps NYC OTB open and protects your jobs and health care benefits,” said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), whose district includes Saratoga Race Course.
The Senate plan would suspend OTB payments for April and May. This would enable OTB to keep going beyond June 30 when its fiscal year ends. The state estimates that revenues will pick up in summer, particularly during the Saratoga meet.
“It doesn’t save any money for OTB, it defers it,” said Dan Wray, New York City OTB‘s director for legislative affairs. “Finally the legislature is starting to pay attention to the biggest revenue generator in New York State. We’ve been talking about this for several years. Unfortunately, it has to get to a crisis for people to pay attention.”
New York City OTB earns about $130-million per year, but mandatory distributions to the state, racetracks, and local government actually results in a $10-million shortfall.
“OTB is already a very profitable entity,” Wray said. “It’s unfortunate that the distribution system has led us to this juncture.”
Under the Senate plan, the state Non-Profit Racing Association Oversight Board would analyze New York City OTB’s situation and make recommendations for permanent, long-term solutions by June 1. This would allow the Legislature to approve and the governor to sign new legislation by the end of the current session, which ends in late June.
“Obviously you’re facing a time crunch,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for Bruno. “OTB has immediate fiscal problems, plus we’re trying to address its long-term stability.”
Bruno said he wanted to deal with OTB in new racing legislation, approved on February 12, which gave New York Racing Association a new 25-year franchise, but he said former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned last week following a highly-publicized sex scandal, and Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-New York City) wanted to handle it separately.
“Earlier this year, the Senate Majority proposed a New York City OTB solution as part of an overall agreement on the future of racing and gaming in New York state,” Bruno said. “That was appropriate and should have been included in the deal we struck with NYRA to continue to run New York’s Thoroughbred racing tracks.”
Paul Post is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent