Ohio Looking for Slot Machines

Ohio’s tracks are in need of slot machines. They know that they cannot continue to compete in the industry if they don’t have them, and so they are hoping to find a way to get them and increase their revenue sources. They have been trying for some time to get the state government to make it a possibility for them to get slot machines so that they can handle more horses and better races.

Now it seems that they have finally gotten permission to move forward with their attempts to get slot machines. Commissioner Thomas M. Zaino has said that they can go directly to the state Legislature to get approval for slot machines and will not need to have the state’s voters approve the expansion. The former Ohio Tax Commissioner currently sits on the Ohio Racing Commission and he said that they do not need a statewide ballot referendum to get the slot machines legalized.

He says that the tracks can be approved for up to 2,000 slot machines at each track, and that the state would get 50% tax on all revenues. He said that the state can simply write a law that says that they get slot machines and then the tracks would have them.

This of course will go against a competing proposal from Penn National Gaming who is trying to get full casino gaming with slot machines at four sites in the state. This would give the state an annual payment of 3% of their gross gaming revenues. It is estimated that they would be paying the state somewhere around $18 million a year.

Zaino says that the Ohio Lottery Commission or the Racing Commission would be regulating the slot machines at the tracks, and the state would handle those at the casinos.

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