Senate Bill No. 569
(By Senator Chernenko and Wiedebusch)
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[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article twenty-three,
chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the
payments out of the West Virginia greyhound breeding
development fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article twenty-three, chapter nineteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 23. HORSE AND DOG RACING.
§19-23-10. Daily license tax; pari-mutuel pools tax; how taxes
paid; alternate tax; credits.
(a) Any racing association conducting thoroughbred racing at
any horse racetrack in this state shall pay each day upon which
horse races are run a daily license tax of two hundred fifty
dollars. Any racing association conducting harness racing at any
horse racetrack in this state shall pay each day upon which horseraces are run a daily license tax of one hundred fifty dollars.
Any racing association conducting dog races shall pay each day
upon which dog races are run a daily license tax of one hundred
fifty dollars. In the event thoroughbred racing, harness racing,
dog racing, or any combination of the foregoing are conducted on
the same day at the same racetrack by the same racing
association, only one daily license tax in the amount of two
hundred fifty dollars shall be paid for that day. Any such daily
license tax shall not apply to any local, county or state fair,
horse show or agricultural or livestock exposition at which horse
racing is conducted for not more than six days.
(b) Any racing association licensed by the racing commission
to conduct thoroughbred racing and permitting and conducting
pari-mutuel wagering under the provisions of this article shall,
in addition to the aforementioned daily license tax, pay to the
racing commission, from the commission deducted each day by such
licensee from the pari-mutuel pools on thoroughbred racing a tax
calculated on the total daily contribution of all such pari-
mutuel pools conducted or made at any and every thoroughbred race
meeting of the licensee licensed under the provisions of this
article, which tax, on the pari-mutuel pools conducted or made
each day during the months of January, February, March, October,
November and December shall from the effective date of this
section and for fiscal year one thousand nine hundred eighty-
five, be calculated at two and six-tenths percent; for fiscal
year one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, be calculated at twoand three-tenths percent; for fiscal year one thousand nine
hundred eighty-seven, be calculated at two percent of such pool;
for fiscal year one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, be
calculated at one and one-half percent; for fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, be calculated at one percent
of such pool; for fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety,
seven tenths of one percent, and for fiscal year one thousand
nine hundred ninety-one and each fiscal year thereafter be
calculated at four tenths of one percent of such pool; and, on
the pari-mutuel pools conducted or made each day during all other
months, shall from the effective date of this section and for
fiscal year one thousand nine hundred eighty-five, be calculated
at three and six-tenths percent; for fiscal year one thousand
nine hundred eighty-six, be calculated at three and three-tenths
percent; for fiscal year one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven,
be calculated at three percent of such pool; for fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, be calculated at two and one-
half percent; for fiscal year one thousand nine hundred eighty-
nine, be calculated at two percent of such pool; for fiscal year
one thousand nine hundred ninety, be calculated at one and seven-
tenths percent of such pool; and for fiscal year one thousand
nine hundred ninety-one and each fiscal year thereafter, be
calculated at one and four-tenths percent of such pool:
Provided, That out of the amount realized from the three-tenths
of one percent decrease in such tax effective for fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-one and thereafter, which decreasecorrespondingly increases the amount of commission retained by
the licensee, the licensee shall annually expend or dedicate (i)
one half of such realized amount for capital improvements in its
barn area at the track, subject to the racing commission's prior
approval of the plans for such improvements, and (ii) the
remaining one half of such realized amount for capital
improvements as the licensee may determine appropriate at the
track. The term capital improvement shall be as defined by the
Internal Revenue Code:
Provided, however,
That any such racing
association operating a horse racetrack in this state having an
average daily pari-mutuel pool on horse racing of two hundred
eighty thousand dollars or less per day for the race meetings of
the preceding calendar year shall, in lieu of payment of the
pari-mutuel pool tax, calculated as hereinbefore in this
subsection provided, be permitted to conduct pari-mutuel wagering
at such horse racetrack on the basis of a daily pari-mutuel pool
tax fixed as follows: On the daily pari-mutuel pool not
exceeding three hundred thousand dollars the daily pari-mutuel
pool tax shall be one thousand dollars plus the otherwise
applicable percentage rate imposed by this subsection of the
daily pari-mutuel pool, if any, in excess of three hundred
thousand dollars:
Provided further,
That upon the effective date
of the reduction of such daily pari-mutuel pool tax to one
thousand dollars from the former two thousand dollars, the
association or licensee shall daily deposit five hundred dollars
into the special fund for regular purses established bysubdivision one (1) subsection (b), section nine of this
article:
And provided further,
That if an association or
licensee qualifying for the foregoing alternate tax conducts more
than one racing performance, each consisting of up to ten races
in a calendar day, such association or licensee shall pay both
the daily license tax imposed in subsection (a) and the foregoing
alternate tax for each such performance:
And provided further,
That a licensee qualifying for the foregoing alternate tax is
excluded from participation in the fund established by section
thirteen-b of this article.
(c) Any racing association licensed by the racing commission
to conduct harness racing and permitting and conducting pari-
mutuel wagering under the provisions of this article shall, in
addition to the aforementioned daily license tax, pay to the
racing commission, from the commission deducted each day by the
licensee from the pari-mutuel pools on harness racing, as a tax,
three percent of the first one hundred thousand dollars wagered,
or any part thereof; four percent of the next one hundred fifty
thousand dollars; and five and three-fourths percent of all over
that amount wagered each day in all such pari-mutuel pools
conducted or made at any and every harness race meeting of the
licensee licensed under the provisions of this article.
(d) Any racing association licensed by the racing commission
to conduct dog racing and permitting and conducting pari-mutuel
wagering under the provisions of this article shall, in addition
to the aforementioned daily license tax, pay to the racingcommission, from the commission deducted each day by such
licensee from the pari-mutuel pools on dog racing, as a tax, four
percent of the first fifty thousand dollars or any part thereof
of such pari-mutuel pools, five percent of the next fifty
thousand dollars of such pari-mutuel pools, six percent of the
next one hundred thousand dollars of such pari-mutuel pools,
seven percent of the next one hundred fifty thousand dollars of
such pari-mutuel pools, and eight percent of all over three
hundred fifty thousand dollars wagered each day:
Provided,
That
the licensee shall deduct daily from the pari-mutuel tax an
amount equal to one tenth of one percent of the daily pari-mutuel
pools in dog racing in fiscal year one thousand nine hundred
ninety; fifteen hundreds of one percent in fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-one; two tenths of one percent in
fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety-two; one quarter of
one percent in fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety-
three; and three tenths of one percent in fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-four and every fiscal year
thereafter. The amounts so deducted shall be paid to the racing
commission to be deposited by the racing commission in a banking
institution of its choice in a special account to be known as
"West Virginia Racing Commission-Special Account-West Virginia
Greyhound Breeding Development Fund." Such moneys shall be
expended by the racing commission exclusively for purses for
stake races involving West Virginia whelped dogs, under rules and
regulations promulgated by the racing commission. The racingcommission shall pay out of the greyhound breeding development
fund to each of the licensed dog racing tracks the sum of one
hundred twenty-five thousand dollars for the fiscal year ending
the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
and a like sum for the fiscal year ending one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five. The licensee shall deposit each sum into
the special fund for regular purses established under the
provisions of section nine of this article. The funds shall be
expended solely for the purpose of supplementing regular purses
under rules promulgated by the racing commission.
(e) All daily license and pari-mutuel pools tax payments
required under the provisions of this section shall be made to
the racing commission or its agent after the last race of each
day of each horse or dog race meeting, and the pari-mutuel pools
tax payments shall be made from all contributions to all pari-
mutuel pools to each and every race of the day.
(f) Every association or licensee subject to the provisions
of this article, including the changed provisions of sections
nine and ten hereof, shall annually submit to the racing
commission and the Legislature financial statements, including a
balance sheet, income statement, statement of change in financial
position and an audit of any electronic data system used for
pari-mutuel tickets and betting, prepared in accordance with
generally accepted auditing standards, as certified by an
experienced public accountant or a certified public accountant.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to transfer excess funds
from the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund into
the regular purse fund for the purpose of supplementing the
regular purses at dog tracks.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.