Senate Bill No. 570

(By Senators Chernenko and Wiedebusch)

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[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
.]
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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; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten-a, all relating to the revision of the pari- mutuel pools tax paid from the commission retained by licensed dog racing associations making the tax applicable by program performances rather than calendar days; and providing charity dog racing days.

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; and that said article twenty-three be further amended by adding thereto a new section designated section ten-a, all 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 horse races 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 thisarticle, 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 two and 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 decrease correspondingly 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 thedaily 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 by subdivision one, 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 poolsconducted 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 racing commission, 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 bankinginstitution 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. For the purposes of this subsection "day" means a single program performance as distinguished from a calendar day.
(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.
§19-23-10a. Charity racing days.
Any racing association licensed by the racing commission to conduct dog racing shall conduct one charity racing day for eachdog race meeting. The licensee shall file with the West Virginia racing commission an application setting forth the date of such day, the charity for which the day is set aside, and such other information as shall be required by the racing commission.
The proceeds of charity performances shall be paid to qualified beneficiaries selected by the licensee. Eligible charities include only those charities which provide evidence of a valid exemption from federal taxation issued by the internal revenue service.
The licensee shall, within thirty days after conducting such charity day, pay to the designated charity the total of all profits derived from the charity day performances.
In determining the total of all profits the licensee shall deduct from the commission authorized by the provisions of subdivision (3), subsection (b), section nine of this article, the daily license tax and the pari-mutuel pools tax required by section ten of this article, the payments to the county commission or municipality required by subdivision (3), subsection (b), section nine of this article, the payments into the purse fund required by subdivision (3), subsection (b), section nine of this article, and wage payments paid to employees actually working during the performance.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the graduated pari-mutual tax rates at dog race tracks applicable by performance rather than by a calendar day and to provide for charity racing days a such tracks.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§19-23-10a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.