GreeneTrack Entertainment Center in Eutaw, Alabama abruptly closed permanently on February 1. Owner Luther Winn has not responded to calls or texts, but Chief Executive Officer Nat Winn said he made the decision following the Alabama Supreme Court’s July ruling requiring the venue to pay a tax rate of more than 100 percent on electronic bingo machines. Winn said as a result, the casino is losing money and cannot afford to operate. The closure put nearly 100 employees out of work in one of the state’s poorest counties.
In letters he wrote to the Alabama Department of Revenue and the Greene County Racing Commission, Winn pointed out the unfairness of the ruling. He said the court’s decision ignored precedent and protocol and has caused GreeneTrack paying a much higher tax rate than other Greene County electronic bingo casinos. The letter said GreeneTrack has retained two law firms and may file a federal lawsuit alleging the state is targeting GreeneTrack because it is the only black-owned casino in Alabama.
Winn wrote, “My gut reaction was to think that the ALSC’s ruling was totally racially motivated. I hoped I was wrong but there is evidence to prove it. Case in point: There are five bingo facilities in Greene County but only one is totally owned and operated by African Americans and that is GreeneTrack. When GreeneTrack’s attorneys and I met with the Department of Revenue, they stated that every bingo facility would be subjected to the same tax. However, none of the other facilities have been assessed with the tax and are thriving.”
Sources said revenue department officials did recently meet with owners of at least two other Greene County casinos to notify them they’ll have to pay a higher tax rate. A revenue department spokesperson said all Greene County casinos will pay the same tax rate.
The state supreme court ruling also reinstated a controversial $106 million tax bill against GreeneTrack, forcing casino officials to replace all of the electronic bingo machines with historical horseracing machines. However, customers prefer the familiar electronic bingo machines, which are available at the four other casinos in Greene County that pay a lower tax rate. In his letter to the commission, Winn explained GreeneTrack was losing “hundreds of thousands of dollars” each month, plus paying more than $1.6 million toward its outstanding tax debt.
In Macon County, VictoryLand President Lewis Benefield had to lay off several hundred employees after shutting down electronic bingo games due to a different state Supreme Court decision. Benefield has replaced the games with historical horseracing machines and still offers betting on simulcast horse and greyhound races. Benefield said, “I’m not going to do what maybe some people have done in the past and say, ‘Hey, screw it. We’re going to still offer it.’ I’m not going to offer electronic bingo. I’m fully running the thing within the law and what the law allows me to do.”
Benefield noted, “We passed a constitutional amendment in 2003. It was voted on by 76 percent of the people in Macon County. We had every intention and everybody knew that what we wanted to do was the same thing that the Native Americans were doing, which was electronic bingo.” The Poarch Band of Creek Indians offers electronic bingo at its three Alabama casinos.
Governor Kay Ivey said last year that her main regret of the 2022 legislative session was the failure of a comprehensive gaming bill. An analysis accompanying the bill indicated a lottery, casinos, sports betting and regulated gambling could generate $510 million to $710 million in annual state revenue and create 19,000 jobs.
Ivey appears to support a gambling bill again this year, when the legislature convenes on March 7. Her spokesperson Gina Maiola said, “The governor has said all along that Alabama voters deserve an opportunity to vote on the matter and that a comprehensive solution to control all forms of gambling is in the best interest of the state. The GreeneTrack tax issue referenced is further evidence of a broken, piecemeal system in need of transformational overhaul.”
Eutaw Mayor Latasha Johnson said the closure of GreeneTrack is frustrating and disappointing. She said the city received $4,000 a month from bingo charity funds. “We rely on the monthly funding and so do the schools and hospitals and nursing home and the county municipalities. It’s been a great help to us the money that we receive from GreeneTrack and other bingo facilities,” she said.
Greene County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Corey Jones noted the board of education will lose more than $13,000 per month due to the GreeneTrack closure. “It will have an impact. We hope we will not lose personnel. That will be the last alternative, but it will definitely affect programs that we currently have going,” he said.
