AUDIT FINDS BELMONT RACETRACK AND NEW YORK CITY
TARDY IN TAX PAYMENTS TO NASSAU COUNTY

The New York Racing Association and the City of New York have been consistently late in paying taxes owed to Nassau County, according to a new review by the Nassau County Comptroller.

"The horses may be fast at Belmont, but when it comes to paying taxes, the track conditions are decidedly slow," Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said.

"Belmont is a major Long Island recreational asset and tourist attraction, straddling the border between New York City and Nassau County," Mr. Weitzman said, noting that the facility is mainly in Nassau. "The law requires New York City to pay Nassau County 75 percent of taxes on racetrack admissions within 60 days after they are collected from the New York Racing Association (NYRA). During 2002 and the first half of 2003, NYRA was consistently late in filing its tax returns with the City, and the City was also late in paying Nassau its share of the taxes it ultimately collected from NYRA."

"In this time of fiscal uncertainty, Nassau County needs every dollar it has coming to it. We call upon NYRA and the City’s Finance Department to make these payments on time, without the county having to go hat in hand to get the monies it is owed under the law."

Although the amounts ultimately paid by NYRA to the City and by the City to the county appear to be correct, the taxes were not paid in a timely manner as stipulated by the law, and NYRA may have been liable for interest and penalties that the City did not collect.

For the spring 2002, fall 2002 and spring 2003 racing seasons, or meets, Belmont collected about $3.3 million in track admissions, requiring payment of $74,451 to Nassau for its share of the 3 percent sales tax. Late fees and interest, which should have been paid but were not, total an additional $6,500. NYRA’s tax return filings to the City were an average of 50 days late. The City’s subsequent remittances to the county for the spring and fall 2002 meets were 173 days and 104 days late, respectively. A portion of the spring 2003 remittance was 47 days late.

The Comptroller recommended that the Nassau County Treasurer take the following corrective steps:

Request that the New York City Department of Finance impose penalties and interest on NYRA when tax payments are late;
Ask NYRA to file copies of its returns with the Nassau County Treasurer’s office;
Request remittance from the NYC Department of Finance upon receipt of the copies of NYRA’s tax return; and
Verify that all funds due the county are received.

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Review of Admissions Tax Receipts from New York Racing Association’s Belmont Race Track
( ~ 144 kB - 3 pages "pdf" file)