The Governor pushes for video slots
The Governor John Kasich seems to want to expedite the placement of video slots as he now has signed the executive order which approves all regulations for video slot licensing and the application of it on for the horse track, employees and tech providers. The decision by Kasich will now speed up the entire administrative process which allows tracks including the Thistledown located in Northeast Ohio and Northfield Park in order to move towards creating a number of video slot places.
This Article Was Written By Jack Nelson
Kasich has cited that this move should bring the region much needed economic development which creates jobs, and boosts tax revenue and will also raise money for a number of education ventures. Rob Nichols who is Kasich's spokesman has said that the state as well as local government and also schools are now losing out around $2 million for every facility each month in the way of tax revenue.
The new rules for these video slots states that each track will pay $50 million for their license fee and another $10 million with their application, they will also pay $15 million when the slots are formally activated and yet another $25 million each year. The applicants will also need to agree to fully invest $150 million in improvements. Other of the key features includes tracks will open for a temporary time period in order to facilitate these video slots and will also require employees to be fully licensed and also pay a $100 to $250 fee depending on what their roles are.
The licenses being offered will need to be renewed every three years and the famous Ohio Lottery Commission will be in charge of overseeing these video slots. The commission signed away on the rules back on Monday. However, the rules still need to be properly approved by the Joint Committee but without the formal executive order both the track owners and people concerned would need to wait for a good 75 days prior to moving forward.
The new lottery will also finalize the whole application process and will start accepting applications soon. Each track is allowed 2,500 video slots and they must pay 33.5% directly to the state from their net income. The owner of the Northfield Park Brock Milstein has said that there is lots of work that needs to be done prior to video slots being installed and operated.
October 28, 2011
