Commissioners in Tucumcari City and Quay County, New Mexico unanimously voted to support resolutions asking Governor Susana Martinez to tell the New Mexico Gaming Commission to issue the state’s sixth horse racing license. County Commission Chair Franklin McCasland said, “We believe that the awarding of the license makes sense for New Mexico, whether it is located in Tucumcari as we hope or in another community in the state.” Warren Frost, racetrack coordinator, Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation, added, “We are certainly not making a demand upon Governor Martinez. We are simply asking that she put this on her to do list.”
Frost noted Martinez appoints racing commission members and has the authority to instruct them to proceed with the application process, if she so desired. In both resolutions, city and county commissioners praised Martinez’s “tireless work and dedication” in promoting economic development across the state.
Frost said studies by Dr. Christopher Erickson, an economist at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center, indicated the sixth license would generate gross receipts of $79 million in its first year, rising to $89 million by the fifth year. The additional tax revenue mostly would come from Texas residents and visitors to the state. McCasland noted the study showed the sixth license would create 1,284 new jobs, increasing to 1,458 by the fifth year. He said the state’s share of gambling proceeds would be at least $16 million the first year and more than $17 million later.
The study was included with the sole application the racing commission has received, submitted in 2014 by the Quay County Gaming authority. It calls for building Coronado Park racino with 600 slot machines and a one-mile dirt racetrack. Its season would include 55 days of live racing, with 60 percent of the races involving thoroughbreds and 40 percent quarter horses.
The sixth license application process was put on hold in 2011 by the previous holder of the license La Mesa. On March 21, 2014, a state Court of Appeals upheld the racing commission’s decision to take back that license which would have gone to La Mesa Racino in Raton, to be built by Canadian developer Michael Moldenhauer.
Commissioners then held public hearings to take comments from current racino owners and others involved in the horse racing industry. Since then the commission has not put the sixth license on their agenda for discussion or a vote.
