$370 Million Becomes The Standard

- Looks like the $370 million upfront fee which was offered and accepted, above and beyond the $250 million originally requested, by Delaware North for Aqueduct VLT's, has become the new standard in the state. Governor Paterson's budget proposal includes that same number, to be raised from the establishment of VLT's at Belmont. So here we go again. As in the past, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stands as the main impediment; though with the Senate picture unclear, one can't say for sure. However, with the so-called "millionaires tax" which Silver favors conspicuously absent from the proposal (as opposed to all of the regressive taxes and fees that are included), there should be a lot of negotiating room with the Speaker over a wide range of matters.

The only thing I've seen in the budget that I like thus far is the proposal to allow the sale of wine in supermarkets! Er, of course, he wants to raise the tax rate on beer and wine as well, so....

Check out the "Revenue Actions" page. The budget includes $1 million for 'Horse Entrance Fees,' which I presume is for entering your horse in a race, not for bringing your pet steed into a state park. Probably something else for that somewhere in here. The governor also proposes to eliminate any restrictions on the hours of operation of the state's VLT parlors and to allow for more interstate lottery games. There's also a one year delay in that onerous 1% hike in the pari-mutuel take on out-of-state simulcasts which I don't think will ever come to pass.

Other proposed taxes of interest are those proposed on sporting events (admission to tracks included?), movies, gym memberships, and digital music (rush to Itunes now). And a lot of others too, which we'll be reading and hearing about in the next few days/weeks/months. Not to mention the cuts, and more cuts. Not a pretty picture to be sure. But what else could we expect?