Saratoga Springs Reliant on State Funds for VLTs

Saratoga Springs operatives are hopeful that the state authorities will restore the aid-funding from the New York State’s video lottery terminals. In contrast, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal saw a significant decrease in funding local VLT facilities. Such budget cuts of around US$10.3 million, will negatively impact about 15 municipalities that host VLTs and are heavily reliant on the funding.

According to Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan, the City of Saratoga Springs is pushing towards the full funding being reinstated, despite remaining unclear whether a new federal relief package will be provided to support local budgets. She also added that without the relief package, the city is expected to endure a significant decrease in cash flow by the summer of 2021.

Saratoga Casino Hotel

The city is famous for its Saratoga Casino Hotel, and if the full-funding from the VLT is not fully reinstated the city is projected to lose around US$2.3 million and Saratoga County could face losses of around US$775,000. State authorities managed to restore the VLT funding in order to help municipalities, but it was later reduced by 20% due to budget cuts.

State Senator Daphne Jordan and Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner wrote to Gov. Cuomo and the state legislature in order to push for the full restoration of the said aid funding. Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Meg Kelly asked for more support on the matter from the city council and two of the city’s supervisors – Tara Gaston and Matthew Veitch.

Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton, Mayor Kelly, and Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan plan to testify about the VLT funding aid to the state legislature in this year’s online budget hearing on February 11, as they did back in 2020.  Public works commissioner Anthony “Skip” Sciricco suggested the city should join forces with other communities from the state in order to support the cause of the reimbursement of the full VLT funding.

Governor Cuomo’s Plan

Governor Andrew Cuomo has submitted his budget plan and has come up with some ideas to overcome the difficult financial situation. Several points from his budget update concern the gaming industry in particular. One of the governor’s proposals is to reduce tax on slot machines revenue of commercial casinos to 25%. The current tax rate of Saratoga Casino is around 39%. Saratoga Casino had US$60,000,000 obligations of tax payments for the last fiscal year, from which US$2.33 million went to Saratoga Springs and around US$775,000 to Saratoga County.

Return of Live Horse Racing

Saratoga Casino Hotel surprised gambling enthusiasts on June 18, 2020, when the public saw the reopening of live horse track racing. The racetracks reopened but with mandatory health and safety measures for staff. Unfortunately, fans were still not allowed to attend the racing events, however, they will still be able to place bets on their favorites on the online betting platform – Saratogabets.com.

The New York State Gaming Commission has re-evaluated the situation and decided to allow the reopening of horse racetracks under certain safety protocols and procedures. The summer of 2020, saw the official reopening of the live harness racing for the 79th season which came as a huge boost for gambling-deprived enthusiasts in the New York state.

Source: Willard, Lucas, “Saratoga Springs Begins Another Push For State Aid Restoration”, WAMC, February 3, 2021