Fears of OTB revenue loss

Visitor center in doubt, Bonacic charges politics

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County lawmakers voted to send a message to Albany saying, “Don’t touch our money.” The concern is that Governor David Paterson will change the way the state’s off-track betting (OTB) system is operated in an attempt to bail out OTB in New York City and elsewhere.

At a meeting at the government center on July 2, county manager David Fanslau explained that the Catskill Off-Track Betting Corporation is, to his knowledge, the only one of the six in the state that makes a profit and generates revenue to the counties that are members.

Some 18 months ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would no longer contribute to the New York City OTB Corporation, which prompted Paterson to appoint a task force that would examine how to improve the entire OTB system.

Fanslau said the concern is that the OTB corporations will be merged, which would result in a system that would “essentially siphon off all the money coming to Sullivan County to basically bail out the City of New York.” Fanslau sent a letter to the taskforce, saying that the Catskill OTB should remain separate and that Sullivan County should continue to receive revenue from it.

Fanslau said the county gets about $700,000 in revenue from the regional OTB, and if that were to be taken away, the county would need to increase property taxes by two percent to replace it.

Also of concern is a possible move by the state to allow video lottery terminals (VLT) in OTB parlors, which lawmakers fear could cut into the already shrinking revenues the county gets from the VLT operation at Monticello Gaming and Raceway.

It’s a possibility that has been reported elsewhere. According to a report in Newsday, Paterson is going to propose allowing VLTs to be installed at an OTB site in Nassau County on Long Island.

Lawmaker Leni Binder said she didn’t think the state would allow VLTs in every OTB parlor, but she said, “I think you’ll find OTB parlors will be enhanced to look like mini casinos in heavily populated areas,” which would cut into the revenue generated by VLTs locally.

Scenic byway visitor center

Also at the government center on July 2, there were preliminary discussions about the county budget and specifically capital projects for 2010. Lawmaker David Sager noted that the new planned visitor center for the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, which is slated to be constructed at the refurbished Cochecton Train Station on Route 97, was not listed among the projects.

The project is to be funded with $600,000 from the federal government, $150,000 from the county government and $250,000 from funds provided by Senator John Bonacic through a member item. Fanslau said that member items can only go forward if the governor signs off on them, and that it was Fanslau’s understanding that Paterson has so far not agreed to the member item.

In an email, Bonacic accused Paterson of playing politics. He wrote, “The hold up has nothing to do with the current senate stalemate. The hold up has been going on for six months and has everything to do with politics.

“In Sullivan County, funds held hostage include $2 million for a new emergency room at Catskill Regional Medical Center, $500,000 for a new YMCA in Thompson and $250,000 for the Upper Delaware Visitor Center. The legal requirements to receive these funds have all been met. The projects were reviewed by the division of the budget and approved in a senate resolution. Governor Paterson should not hold public money hostage for political reasons.

“There have been insinuations that the funds would be released if certain senators switched political parties or allegiances. To me, that is illegal and amounts to extortion. We call upon the governor to direct his agencies to stop denying people services and community improvements based on the political enrollment of a region’s representative.

“If the governor does not act soon, we are contemplating suing the Dormitory Authority, which is the agency responsible for advancing these funds, to force them to release the money.”

A spokesman for Paterson’s office could not immediately identify the member item to comment on the matter.