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Showing posts with label Rivers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rivers. Show all posts

Saturday, October 1, 2016

UPDATED: Court strikes down casino payments to host communities in Pennsylvania




Geoff Freeman, CEO of the American Gaming Association, said as the ... made by casinos since the state passed the casino gambling law in 2004.


After rejecting city budgets in 2014 and 2015 and withholding about $20 million in gambling tax revenues, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that ...


The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem provides its host city with almost $10 million annually in slot-machine revenues. (Express-Times file photo).


HARRISBURG, Pa. (CN) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a municipal tax on slot machines outside Philadelphia violates the state ...


With revenues at every casino always falling below $500 million a year, the $10 million has always been higher than the percentage take would be.

Casinos, with their flashy slot machines, lavish buffets and smoky table games, came with heavy strings attached that now serve as fiscal lifelines in ...


Former Harrison Mayor Jeff Crockett said he saw enough economic potential in the proposedcasino amendment that he hosted petitions for people in ...


Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, for example, pays $16 million in fees to local communities. The $8.8 million Bethlehem gets is equivalent to 100 ...



The state's highest court on Wednesday ruled a formula in the state gaming act that determines how much gaming revenue casinos are required to ...




The state Supreme Court has struck down casino host fees that cities have come ... By striking down the tax paid by casinos, the court strips more than $16 ... state gaming law imposes a 2 percent fee on gross slot machine revenues, ...

High court strikes down casino payments to host communities
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's highest court is striking down the tax that casinos pay their host communities, potentially devastating local ...

Local Governments Could Lose Funding From Casinos - Erie News Now
Millions of dollars are given to local governments each year, from fees paid by Presque Isle Downs, and other casinos in the state. But now, those ...


Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racetrack in Dauphin County. A court ruling will force the state legislature to reconsider payments to casinos' host ...


That difference cost nine Pennsylvania casinos a total of $48.5 million in the year ended June 30, according the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's ...


Luzerne annually receives approximately $12 million on average in Local Share Account program money from gambling revenues from the Mohegan ...


HARRISBURG, Pa. —Pennsylvania's highest court on Wednesday struck down a requirement that has forced casinos to pay tens of millions of dollars ...


PLAINS TOWNSHIP — Communities where Pennsylvania's casinos are located could lose tens of millions of dollars, thanks to a state Supreme Court ...



People sit at the bar at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino on Christmas day. ... because it is not uniform and affects Pennsylvania's 12 casinos differently.


HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's highest court on Wednesday struck down a requirement that has forced casinos to pay tens of millions of dollars to ...



Farmland preservation could suffer if state lawmakers fail to restore $16 million in casino host fees paid out by Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.

Court strikes down casino payments to host communities in Pennsylvania

Published  12:16 PM EDT Sep 29, 2016

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the roughly 4 percent "local share assessment" is unconstitutional because it is not uniform and affects Pennsylvania's 12 casinos differently.
The justices said they would delay the effect of their decision striking down the tax for four months to give lawmakers an opportunity to fix it.
"We are mindful that our decision may significantly affect many counties and municipalities that have ordered their affairs in reliance upon" the casino tax revenue, Justice David Wecht wrote in the 18-page opinion.
Under the state's original 2004 casino law, casinos must pay at least 4 percent of gross slot-machine gambling revenues to their host communities. That includes 2 percent to counties and 2 percent or $10 million, whichever is greater, to municipalities.
  
SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia is exempt, as are two smaller "resort" casinos: Valley Forge Casino in suburban Philadelphia and Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin in southwestern Pennsylvania.
  
But Mount Airy Casino in northeastern Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains had asked the court to strike down the $10 million host fee, arguing that it violates the state constitution by imposing a heavier tax burden on lower performing casinos.
  
Some $141 million in slots revenue was paid in the last fiscal year to counties and municipalities, according to Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board data. That included about $48 million paid by casinos to satisfy the $10 million host fee requirement.
  
Gov. Tom Wolf's office declined comment on the ruling Wednesday. Senate officials said the decision could have far-reaching effects.
  
"We will take action and we'll do it in such a way to maintain the casino obligation to our local communities," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Browne, R-Lehigh, told the Morning Call of Allentown. "This would absolutely devastate these towns."
  
Douglas Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said the money is significant for counties.
  
"Very clearly, the gaming revenue has gone to legitimate and worthwhile local purposes, all aimed at improving the community, and equally for the host municipalities," Hill said.
  
The amount of the host fee is equivalent to the cost of 100 police officers, Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez told the Morning Call.
  
"So this is something that we're very concerned about," Donchez said.
  
The court also awarded relief to Mount Airy Casino, although the amount was not immediately clear.



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Sunday, August 21, 2016

DP Blotter: Battery, Trespass Charges As Casino



DP Blotter: Battery, Trespass Charges As Casino


Myriam L. Larson, 40, of 400 W. Randolph St., Chicago, was charged with criminal trespass to property at Rivers Casino, 3000 S. River Rd. She was apprehended at 4:24 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14. Police did not release any additional details about the incident and the Journal & Topics Newspapers has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the city for the report.



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Monday, August 1, 2016

Lawsuit dropped by Rivers Casino in tax dispute



Rivers Casino drops lawsuit over gambling tax paid to Pittsburgh


BY JASON CATO | Friday, July 29, 2016

Rivers Casino on Friday dropped a lawsuit it filed against the state last month claiming a gambling tax it pays to Pittsburgh is unconstitutional.
A spokesman did not offer an explanation for why the North Shore casino dropped its suit against the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Rivers was attempting to block the department from collecting the tax established by lawmakers when they legalized gambling in 2004.
Rivers attorneys claimed the municipal portion of the local share tax in the state's Gaming Act unlawfully applies different tax rates to Pennsylvania's 12 operating casinos and doesn't tax all casinos equally in terms of revenue from slot machines that goes to municipalities.
Similar lawsuits are pending by Mount Airy and Harrah's Philadelphia casinos.
For fiscal year 2015-16, Rivers earned $272 million in slots revenues, records show.
Rivers annually pays a local-share assessment to the city of 2 percent of slots revenues or $10 million, whichever is greater. It has paid $65 million to Pittsburgh since opening in 2009.
In addition to getting the tax abolished, Rivers' parent company, Holding Acquisition Co., wanted a refund on some of the money it has paid.
Pittsburgh planned to join the state in defending the claim and considered a counter-lawsuit against Rivers.
“We are pleased that the Rivers Casino changed course and withdrew this erroneous lawsuit,” said Kevin Acklin, Mayor Bill Peduto's chief of staff. “We remain vigilant to defend the commitments made by the casino to the residents of our city.”

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10875591-74/casino-tax-rivers




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Lawsuit dropped by Rivers Casino in tax dispute



Marie Kelley

July 30, 2016

A lawsuit was filed by Rivers Casino in Pittsburg challenging their yearly tax payment based on revenues from slot machine gaming just a few weeks ago and the suit has now been dropped. Late this afternoon, the casino announced the complaint has been withdrawn with no further comment on the matter.
The lawsuit was filed on June 27th within the Pennsylvania Supreme Court against the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue in an attempt to fight the local share tax based on the municipal portion. A spokesman for the casino, Jack Horner, did not speak any further on the matter, just to say that the lawsuit had been withdrawn.
The casino owner, Holdings Acquisition Co., filed the lawsuit, maintaining that the municipal portion of the local share tax was in violation of the clauses of uniformity and equal protection within the constitution of the state as well as the United States. The portion of tax was enacted when slot gambling was first legalized in 2004, with the company calling the tax an unequal rate on slot machine licensees.
Almost all casinos in the state are required by law to pay more than 2% of their gross terminal revenue on slot machine games or a rate of $10 million a year to the host municipality. The only venues exempt from this law are the resort destinations of Valley Forge and Nemacolin as well as casinos in Philadelphia.
2% of revenues is paid when the total amount is over $500 million or a $10 million fee if below this marker. Since the law was enacted in 2004, no casino has pushed past the $500 million marker. This means all casinos have paid $10 million in fees annually. The money paid was used by Pittsburgh to build up the pension fund. With the lawsuit, the casino was hoping to earn a refund for payments made to the city which would equal around $65 million.
When the lawsuit was filed, the city of Pittsburg asked the court to dismiss, citing that the potential for the refund would have a dramatic and immediate effect on the financial health of the city.  With the suit dropped, similar lawsuits remain pending by the Harrah’s Philadelphia venue as well as Mount Airy Casino.



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Thursday, July 21, 2016

Rivers Casino challenge to slots tax highlights big checks Pa. casinos have been writing




Slot machine tax challenged by Rivers Casino
TAGS: PennsylvaniaGamingCasinosTaxesPennsylvania Gaming
Every day, 2 percent of the cash earned by every slot machine at Rivers Casino goes to the city of Pittsburgh. In 2015, that amounted to $5.5 million. But it wasn’t nearly enough. At the end of the year, the North Shore casino cut a check for another $4.5 million to hand over to the city — representing the difference between what its slot machines produced and the minimum $10 million that Pittsburgh is entitled to annually under state gambling law.
View original Article

Rivers Casino challenge to slots tax highlights big checks Pa. casinos have been writing

July 21, 2016


By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Every day, 2 percent of the cash earned by every slot machine at Rivers Casino goes to the city of Pittsburgh. In 2015, that amounted to $5.5 million. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
At the end of the year, the North Shore casino cut a check for another $4.5 million to hand over to the city — representing the difference between what its slot machines produced and the minimum $10 million that Pittsburgh is entitled to annually under state gambling law.
Rivers Casino is no exception.
Last year, eight other casinos in the state ponied up anywhere from $2.4 million to $7.6 million in “true-up” payments to cover the difference between what their slot machines produced for local municipalities and the minimum $10 million they are required to pay their communities.
The municipal portion of the local share tax, enacted when slot machine gambling was legalized in Pennsylvania in 2004, is now the subject of legal challenges by Rivers and two other casinos — Mount Airy and Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Stakes have become high in the legal tussle — so high that Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto canceled an appearance at Rivers Casino Wednesday for a Northside Chamber of Commerce event.
He felt “it is not appropriate to appear at the casino while it is making the city the subject of a lawsuit putting taxpayer funds in jeopardy,” spokesman Tim McNulty said.
Under the system being challenged, all casinos in the state are required to pay the municipal portion except those in Philadelphia and the resort casinos in Nemacolin and Valley Forge. The affected venues pay 2 percent of their gross terminal revenue if it exceeds $500 million or $10 million if it is less than that.
In its lawsuit filed last month, Holdings Acquisition Co., the Rivers Casino owner, claimed the provision “imposes unequal rates of taxation on slot machine licensees” and violates uniformity and equal protection clauses in the state and U.S. constitutions.
The law lacks uniformity, it maintained, because it ordains two tax rates on the same class of taxpayers depending on whether gross terminal revenues are above or below $500 million. That difference in treatment is “arbitrary and not rationally related to any legitimate government purpose,” Holdings argued.
Compounding the matter, at least in the eyes of Holdings, is that casinos in the city of Philadelphia pay 4 percent of their gross terminal revenue as the local share but are not subject to the $10 million minimum. Resort casinos pay 2 percent and aren’t subject to the $10 million minimum.
In the 10 years the state has been collecting the municipal share, no casino has ever exceeded the $500 million figure, meaning all have been required to write checks every year to hit the $10 million level. That’s despite the fact many would be paying much less based solely on revenues.
The way the system works is that the state collects 2 percent a day from casino slot machines and earmarks it for the municipal share. At the end of the year, the state calculates how much has been collected and how much each casino owes as a “true-up” payment to reach the $10 million.
Last year, Parx Casino, the largest in the state, shelled out the least, $2.4 million. Presque Isle in Erie, anted up the most, $7.6 million.
Rivers paid $4.5 million, while The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County paid $5.6 million.
The majority paid between $4 million to $5 million.
Christopher Craig, who helped craft the state’s gambling law as a lawyer working for former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, said the local share was added to help municipalities offset the costs, including police and infrastructure, associated with hosting a casino.
As for the 2 percent versus the $10 million, the legislature was seeking to strike a balance between the needs of the municipality and “not creating a burden” for the casino, Mr. Craig said.
The 4 percent was put in place for Philadelphia because legislators felt gross terminal revenues for casinos in that city would generate more than $10 million a year for the local share.
“People can go back 12 years and quibble with some of the public policy decisions,” Mr. Craig said. “At the end of the day, the act has been extremely successful.”
Should Rivers prevail, Pittsburgh would lose $10 million a year in revenue, though payments the past few years have been tied up in a battle with the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority. Rivers also is demanding about $65 million in refunds for money it paid in the past.
Pittsburgh has been using the gambling funds to prop up its ailing pension fund, as required under the Act 47 recovery plan.
If the city loses the money, it would not be able to meet that state mandate or would have to cut $10 million from “core municipal services” to do so, Mr. McNulty said. The city intends to intervene in the lawsuit.
“The local share tax payments were one of the conditions for granting the casino its license, and it never should have taken this frivolous legal action,” Mr. McNulty said.
Like the city, Denis Rudd, a professor and director of hospitality and tourism management at Robert Morris University, doesn’t think the casino has much of a beef. He said there’s definitely a cost to the municipality in hosting such a venue “and that’s the reason they get a chunk of” the revenue.
Mr. Rudd conceded $10 million is nothing to sneeze at — even for a casino like Rivers that produced $272 million in gross terminal revenue last fiscal year, 54 percent of which went for taxes, including the municipal payment. But all casinos knew going in what the cost would be, he noted.
“They agreed to it, so they should have to pay it,” he said.



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Sunday, May 29, 2016

Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh says church employee stole $220K in donations



Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh says church employee stole $220K in donations



Aaron Aupperlee

BY AARON AUPPERLEE

A former employee of Good Samaritan Parish in Ambridge who ran up a six-figure casino gambling loss admitted to stealing more than $220,000 from donations for votive candles and the collection plate, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and Beaver County District Attorney's Office said Friday.

Thomas P. Ross, 62, known in the church as Brother Ambrose Ross, was arraigned Friday on three counts of theft and three charges of receiving stolen property. A phone call to a number listed for Ross was not returned.

Records from Rivers Casino showed Ross had gambling transactions totaling $2.7 million from 2010 to 2015, including more than $331,000 in losses, according to the district attorney's office.

Bishop David A. Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said he was “deeply grieved” that someone would take money given to the church.

“I offer my prayers and consolation to the parishioners whose trust has been broken and I promise to continue full cooperation with the civil authorities,” Zubik said in a statement. “I ask your prayers for everyone who has been harmed by this, including Brother Ambrose.”

An attorney accompanied Ross to his arraignment Friday but no information for the lawyer was listed in court records. He was released on an unsecured $250,000 bond, court records show.

Ross worked as director of music and liturgy and as a fundraising coordinator from 1994 to May 2015 at Good Samaritan. He resigned after being confronted with evidence of financial irregularities, church officials said. He worked at St. Stanislaus Parish before Good Samaritan.

The church began investigating in early 2014 because a parishioner reported that his 2013 contribution statement was not accurate. Good Samaritan's pastor, the Rev. Joseph Carr, found financial irregularities when he tried to verify cash contributions to the church.

The parish installed hidden cameras in the office in April 2015. The cameras caught Ross taking sealed bank envelopes from a safe. Ross was shown the videos in May 2015, admitted to taking the money and resigned, said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, a spokesman for the diocese.

The church turned the case over to the police, who asked they keep it quiet as their investigation unfolded. Parishioners were informed that Ross had resigned because of financial irregularities, but details of the investigation weren't released until Friday.

A letter from Zubik about Ross and the thefts will be read to parishioners at Good Samaritan during services this weekend, Lengwin said.

The diocese said the parish followed established rules for handling money but that Ross was able to exploit a flaw in how money was handled and accounted for.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 7.

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10541707-74/church-diocese-ross







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Sunday, May 24, 2015

Pennsylvania: Airport gamble: Pittsburgh needs passengers, not players




Airport gamble: Pittsburgh needs passengers, not players



A Coraopolis legislator wants passengers waiting for flights at Pittsburgh International Airport to deposit their excess money in casino-style slot machines before they leave.
Democratic Rep. Nick Kotik said profits from slots could help the airport, which struggles to fill its sparsely populated terminal and gates. Fortunately, odds are this dubious venture is going nowhere.
Mr. Kotik proposed the idea last week at the Rivers Casino, where the House Gaming Oversight Committee met. The panel was there to discuss how Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos can succeed despite competition from neighboring states. So, when Mr. Kotik suggested adding more competition — this time, at the airport — the response from Rivers officials was polite and measured.
Outside of Nevada, where airports in Las Vegas and Reno offer slots, no U.S. airports have gambling machines. Efforts to install them at airports in Baltimore and Chicago failed, and a plan to put them at Honolulu’s airport is unlikely to pass since gambling is illegal in Hawaii.
Take your pick of reasons why this is a bad idea: Airport slots would compete with casinos. They’d exploit Pittsburgh travelers. They’d be near minors and families. They’d give a first (and last) impression that smart, classy Pittsburgh might rather not have.
Let what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas, and in Pennsylvania’s casinos. The airport needs traffic, yes — not gambling.
 
 
 

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Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Rivers Casino security cameras tracked defendant, robbery victims











VIDEO ON LINK

Rivers Casino security cameras tracked defendant, robbery victims, prosecution says

UPDATED 10:32 PM EDT May 04, 2015
By
 
 
 
PITTSBURGH —Rivers Casino security camera video is playing a prominent part in the Allegheny County trial of a man charged with tracking and robbing casino customers.
 
 
Jurors are being shown casino video evidence which recorded the movements on casino property of defendant Dustin Andrejco-Jones and the victims.
 
Investigators worked backward from video of the victims leaving the casino to identify the defendant and to document what led up to the crimes.

"I think their video system is very good. They can see what's going on there. I mean every little move you make, it seems like," victim Thomas Gnipp told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.
 
Assistant District Attorney John Pittman told the jury in Judge Jill Rangos' courtroom that the video was recorded in Rivers Casino and its garage on the night of Jan. 8, 2014, and the following early-morning hours.
 
Andrejco-Jones, of Braddock, was allegedly tracking casino customers, including following two of them home to rob them before returning in each case to the casino.
 
Casino cameras automatically recorded him and the victims as part of an extensive security system, creating a trail of evidence being used in the trial.

"On that floor when I was leaving, (he) saw me with the cane, and figured I'm an easy target," said Gnipp, who testified Andrejco-Jones tailed him home from the casino to Ross Township, rushing up on him as he was getting out of his car in his garage.

"He says to me, 'Give me all your money. I have a gun,'" Gnipp said. "I was scared to death. I have a bad heart. I didn't know what to do. I laid on the horn."

Gnipp said the the defendant ran off with less than $40.

Earlier, Ronald Eritano testified Andrejco-Jones attacked him in the casino garage that same evening, as he and his wife were about to leave.

"He pushed me and said, 'Give me your money,' and then pushed me again. He said 'I have a gun, I'll shoot you,'" Eritano said. "He hit me real hard, right in the sternum, and knocked me back against the car door. At that point, my wife screamed and he took off. I was just stunned. Never happened to me before in my lifetime."

"I knew something was wrong. I got out of the car and started screaming," said Carol Eritano, wife of the victim, who also testified.
The prosecution maintains that a third casino customer was followed home and robbed of a couple of thousand dollars. It says it will present video of Andrejco-Jones returning to the casino and gambling away that man's money.

That third victim is expected to testify when the trial resumes Tuesday.


http://www.wtae.com/news/Rivers-Casino-security-cameras-tracked-defendant-robbery-victims-prosecution-says/32803406
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