Groth, left, makes his point to Putnam legislators
CARMEL – Thirty-five years ago, Putnam County’s late Legislator Jim Gordon of Putnam Valley, brought Don Groth to a meeting of the county legislature where the Catskill Region Off-Track Betting philosophy was explained to the nine-member board.
Shortly thereafter, OTB opened two betting parlors in Putnam, one in Mahopac and the other in Brewster where for years substantial revenue was generated providing the county with added unexpected revenue used for a variety of organizations that included libraries, community programs and other non-for-profit venues.
In recent years, OTB has lost interest among residents and the hefty check received each December for decades has been diminished to pennies.
Groth, who still serves as president of the Catskill Region OTB Corporation, returned to the county Monday evening and met with members of the legislature’s Audit Committee along with Vincent Tamagna of Nelsonville who serves as the county’s representative on the OTB board.
Legislators Joseph Castellano, Paul Jonke and Carl Albano listened with interest along with Legislators Amy Sayegh and Toni Addonizio, and Commissioner of Finance William Carlin when Groth reported in 2005, before racinos and casinos, were created, OTB generated $5.3 million of Triple Crown wagers. “This year we handled $3.8 million on racing’s Triple Crown even with Justify, a rare Triple Crown winner. That was 28 percent less than 2005 as our profits took another hit.”
Groth reported since 1976, Catskill OTB has paid more than $725 million to racing and governments with $385 million added to state and local coffers; however, with other gaming and added venues and declining interest in horse racing, sales at OTB parlors have declined from a peak of $145 million to $65 million by year’s end 2017.
Groth said while the popularity of horse wagering has declined over the years, “raceways, racetracks, and others have further been propped up by adding video lottery terminals to product line offerings since no one can survive on horse race betting alone. Every racetrack and OTB Corporation in New York State has been subsidized except for Catskill and Capital OTBs. This must change.”
Because of this, Catskill OTB has been forced to reduce the amount of its distributions to member counties.
Groth called on the legislators to “endorse OTB by adding on an additional product and source of revenue for counties. We need statutory changes to assure county participation in OTB profits as well as better access to our own capital fund monies.”
Groth asked the county legislature to adopt a resolution calling on the state legislature to allow OTB to retain un-cashed ticket monies, reduce pari-mutuel taxes while allowing OTB to offer additional products such as sports betting, video lottery terminals or historic racing.
“Without such legislation approved by our various counties and eventually the state, we will be forced to seek New York State Gaming Commission approval to file for Chapter 9 Federal Protection if necessary.”
Legislator Albano told his colleagues “It makes sense to have our voice out there. Let the full legislature make a decision.” That vote will be taken at the board’s next regular meeting on December 4.
