Vernon Downs Threatens Closure, Says State Tax Cuts Could Improve its Odds
Vernon Downs Casino Hotel inward Upstate New York is warning state officials that its potency closing could termination in the layoffs of all 249 of its employees.
The racino this week submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing with the New House of York Department of Labor. WARN filings are required when employers with to a greater extent than 100 employees previse considerable changes to their workforces. The filings are to live made at to the lowest degree 60 days inward go on of the possible terminations or adjustments.
Vernon Downs proprietor Jeff Gural, who to boot controls Tioga Downs and the Meadowlands Racetrack inward Orient Rutherford, N.J., says he missed $2 jillion operating Vernon Downs utmost year.
Last year, Vernon provided jobs for 250 community of interests members, $13 zillion inward revenue enhancement revenue for New House of York State, but missed $2 million dollars,” Gural, chair and CEO of Vernon Downs, said in a statement. “COVID decimated our stage business and without modest task relief we can buoy no more longer operate.”
Being a racino, Vernon Downs is permitted to control video lottery terminals (VLTs), slot-like machines that learn their gameplay outcomes based on drawing simulations. During the 2022 financial yr (April ’22 through and through Mar ’23), Vernon Downs generated revenue gaming revenue (GGR) of $29.2 million.
Tax Breaks Sought
This isn’t the first-class honours degree clip Gural has threatened the closing of Vernon Downs.
The New York tangible acres tycoon has, for many years, said that without important revenue enhancement breaks from the state, his racino cannot decent contend with upstate tribal casinos. Gural in 2017 said the gain of quadruplet upstate commercial message casinos, authorised through the state’s 2013 gaming enlargement package, farther hampered his property’s power to operate profitably.
Gural says since the Native American casinos nigh Vernon Downs aren’t taxed nearly as extensively as his racino, he can’t offer the same incentives to patrons. Vernon Downs’ closest competitors are Turning Oliver Stone Resort Casino and Yellow Brick Road Casino. Both tribal casinos are owned and operated past the Oneida Amerind Nation.
Vernon Downs is required past commonwealth law to verbatim 34% of its GGR to New House of York public education. Another 10% goes to the New House of York Lottery to underwrite its regulatory and administrative costs. That left hand Vernon Downs with virtually $16.4 meg in gaming story profits in conclusion year.
Meanwhile, tribal casinos share 25% of their gross slot win with the res publica but keep the remaining 75%. The tribes, which are also allowed to operate tabularise games, continue 100% of their mat income.
Impending Closure
Gural is calling on New House of York lawmakers to apace cater his racino with a meaningful taxation break. If Albany doesn’t respond, he says the racecourse and gambling casino testament start shutting down its operations this summer.
Vernon Downs, Gural said, testament world-class shutter the casino and the property’s restaurants by August, with the track closure the followers month. The property’s hotel would confining on or before December 31.
We all attention deeply nearly this community, and I am hopeful we tin can process with the regulator and legislative assembly to stay fresh these jobs and Vernon as an economic engine for Oneida County,” Gural said.
But if the nation isn’t willing to amount to the table, Gural said his helping hand testament follow forced.
“I’m non sledding to turn a loss another $2 million. This is stupid,” Gural concluded.
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