Seventeen Western New York municipalities and more than 420 employees of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation are getting a major boost, thanks to a provision in the newly passed New York State budget. The state has approved a five percent reduction in the tax rate OTB pays on its net gaming revenues — a change that will directly benefit local governments and OTB workers. Western Regional OTB President Byron Brown called the tax cut his “top legislative priority” since taking office in October.
“This was the number one item on our agenda to pursue,” Brown said.
Under the old formula, Buffalo received just over $280,000 in first-quarter revenue-sharing. With the new formula, that number could increase by at least $200,000 for each of the final three quarters this year, and boosts should also happen to all other local governments.
“I think this is a watershed moment for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation,” Brown said. “A lot went into being able to achieve this tax rate reduction.”
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes backed the measure.
“We need to keep this in the budget,” Peoples-Stokes said. “I know there are going to come times when there are other organizations that deliver a similar service that are going to duplicate what we're doing here and I’m not saying that they're not deserving, but what I am saying is the idea came from Western New York, so the idea should actually happen for Western New York in this budget.”
In 2024, Western Regional OTB reported $88 million in net gaming revenues and is projecting that number to rise to as much as $92 million this year.
