View Full Version : OKC Zoo to benefit from gaming



Patrick
05-31-2005, 10:19 AM
How about this...this is pretty interesting. Looks like the zoo is gonig to benefit from gaming at Remington Park. How? Well, the zoo leases the land to Remington Park, and the lease is based on total revenue. So, the zoo will benefit from gaming through higher revenues at Remington Park.

But, there is some red tape and the zoo doesn't feel it's getting its fair share....read on....

------------
"Gaming profits to benefit zoo


By Anthony Thornton
The Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Zoo patrons may benefit from Remington Park's foray into casino gambling. Zoo officials are claiming a share of the profits Remington Park will make when its racino opens this fall.
The reason: Remington Park was built on 372 acres owned by the Oklahoma City Zoological Trust, and a 1986 contract ties the horse track's annual lease payment to its pari-mutuel handle.

The track's parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp., argues that the term "handle" excludes casino proceeds. However, in an April 14 letter obtained by The Oklahoman through the state Open Records Act, Magna agreed to pay a portion, anyway, "to maintain our good relationship with the zoo."

The letter from Magna chief counsel Scott J. Daruty sets that portion as 0.5 percent of anything above $50 million per year in annual "net-win." Net-win is the total amount generated by the racetrack's electronic machines after paying winners.

The state finance director projects a $65 million annual net-win from the 650 machines allotted to Remington Park. That allotment was set by the State-Tribal Gaming Act, which Oklahoma voters passed last year.

Magna's proposal would produce $75,000 a year for the zoo, a figure zoo Executive Director Bert Castro considers insufficient.

"I don't know what a fair amount is, but we're not satisfied with that, and we hope we can do better," he said.

Remington can add 50 machines in 2007 and 50 more in 2009. Magna proposes to increase its lease payment threshold accordingly. With 750 machines, the company would pay the zoo only for net-win exceeding $57.6 million, according to Daruty's letter.

Again, Castro said, "I would like to see the zoo get a little bit better deal than that."

To that end, the Oklahoma City Zoo Trust on May 13 hired two lawyers who negotiated the State-Tribal Gaming Act for several tribes.

The zoo trust will pay up to $13,500 to attorneys Kirke Kickingbird and William Norman Jr., who told Castro they should be able to strike a deal in 50 working hours. If they can't, Castro said, he will have to return to the trust and seek more money for legal fees.

Whatever percentage the negotiations produce would be money Castro couldn't have foreseen a year ago. Most likely, it would offset operations expenses, help create exhibits or aid conservation programs, he said.

Remington Park's lease agreement requires the track to pay $132,857 a year, plus 0.5 percent of the annual handle, or total amount bet, exceeding $187 million.

For all but Remington Park's first two years, that provision has been meaningless, as attendance and handle steadily dropped. "