MONTICELLO, NY — State gambling revenue is up, but Sullivan County’s casino revenue is down.

The Sullivan County treasurer, Nancy Buck, told the Budget and Management Committee in March that county tax revenue for 2023 is at the lowest since 2021.

Gaming revenue in Sullivan decreased a little over 21 percent between 2022 and 2023 (see sidebar). The gaming revenue reported for 2023 is nearly $700,000 dollars less than in 2022. 

Resorts World Catskills, which opened in 2018 in the Town of Thompson, had projected revenues of $309 million for 2019. The pandemic put a wrench in the casino’s grand plans, but there were concerns even before COVID about how realistic its projections really were. 

The lower-than-expected revenue seems unrelated to the pandemic. In 2023 the American Gaming Association reported that New York’s gaming revenue increased by 11.6 percent from the previous year.

Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber told the River Reporter the tax revenue was nowhere close to what was predicted for the town. “When there isn’t an outside economic reason, you need to look internally,” he said.

Rieber said the casino needs to remarket itself.  

Resorts World received significant sales and tax exemptions from the Sullivan County IDA. According to an article published in The News Journal, IDA records show the casino appears to have gotten a “$35 million sales and use tax exemption, as well as a 16-year payment in lieu of taxes for the golf course that will save it about $1 million, as well as a $1.5 million exemption on the entertainment village.”

Resorts World did not return a request for comment.