According to a report, lawyers representing Balmoral Park and Maywood Park – both of which are currently under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection – are preparing to fight an $82-million penalty the tracks’ owners are facing in regard to a December 2014 court judgment in relation to a past tax on riverboat casinos and former Governor Rod Blagojevich.
News of lawyers’ position on the matter comes courtesy of an article by The Wall Street Journal.
In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement from Balmoral Racing Club, Inc. and Maywood Park Trotting Association, Inc. in late December, officials with the tracks stated that the bankruptcy filings were in response to a judgment entered against the tracks on December 11, 2014 in favour of the state’s four largest riverboat casinos. The suit arises out of 2008 legislation which extended a three per cent tax on the riverboat casinos’ adjusted gross receipts and was found constitutional by a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court decision in 2009.
The bankruptcy announcement went on to state that the tax was designed by the Illinois Legislature to impose an impact fee on the riverboat casinos and direct these funds to the horse racing industry, including all five Illinois racetracks and the horsemen racing at these tracks. The purpose of the impact fee was to offset a portion of the financial losses the tracks and horsemen incurred when riverboat gambling licenses were granted in the Illinois sanctioned and regulated gaming marketplace.
Earlier in December, four riverboat casinos in Illinois were awarded $26.3 million in damages, and, via the court's decision, Balmoral Park and Maywood Park have to pay a total of $77.8 million to four of the state's riverboat casinos.
The Wall Street Journal article states that the tracks’ lawyers are planning to appeal the judgment from the riverboat casino lawsuit, which accused the tracks’ owners of illegally promising to contribute money to Blagojevich’s campaign if he renewed the 3 per cent tax on the riverboat casinos.
(With files from The Wall Street Journal)