Some may think all casinos print money—they don’t. Just ask Jeff Gural, owner of Vernon Downs Racetrack and Casino in Vernon, New York.
Unless the state brings back the tax cut which kept the track afloat a few years ago, the end is in sight. Gural filed a layoff notice with the state Labor Department, a precursor for closure of the slot machine casino and some restaurants come August.
The harness races will fold in September and the hotel and other elements will be shuttered by December 31, according to Yogonet Gaming News. The closure will put 249 union and 40 non-union employees out of a job.
Gural lost $2 million last year. Had the state restored the tax cut from 2017, he would not have lost the money. The tax cut depended on retaining employees during the pandemic. When he couldn’t, the reduction disappeared in 2021.
The tax cut would have dropped Gural’s “vendor’s fee” to the state from $13 million to $11 million, and thus break even. “I’m not talking about profit here,” Gural said, as reported by Syracuse.com. “Everything was fine (with the tax cut) and we were breaking even.”
He told lawmakers he wasn’t in the business of losing money. “I’m not going to lose another $2 million. This is stupid.” Gural has enlisted the support of Workers United Upstate New York, which represents union employees.
Gural owns Tioga Downs, located just west of Binghamton, which was transformed into a full-service “Vegas-style” casino in 2016. He also owns the Meadowlands in North Jersey.
“(Vernon Downs) is the best (harness) track in the state,” he told a source. “The horsemen stay there 12 months out of the year, and we have people depending on the stables and everything else. We donate to the Food Bank every year.”
On Wednesday, state Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon issued a statement: “I have been notified by my constituents of the possible closing of Vernon Downs in stages if the legislative and executive branches can’t find a solution to supporting another tax credit extender,” she said. “I have worked endlessly with my colleagues in the legislature in the past and will continue to do so to assist Vernon Downs to remain open.”
State Senator Joseph Griffo also released a statement. “I understand the challenges facing Vernon Downs and initially and successfully led efforts to provide relief for the venue in the past,” Griffo said. “I will continue to work with my colleagues at all levels of government to keep the facility open and operational.”
