Press release:
Officials from Batavia Downs Gaming and Western OTB formally closed the books on a record-breaking 2019. Revenues distributed to member municipalities totaled $3,628,250, a new high.
Distributions were given in the fourth quarter for the first time since 1999. Batavia Downs Gaming contributed $31,315,212.38 to State Education via the New York State Lottery in 2019. This was also a record, beating 2018’s number by $1.6 million.
Distributions to each municipality were as follows, first listed is in 2019, then since OTB’s inception:
City of Buffalo -- $341,896 / $27,338,900
Cattaraugus County – $114,116 / $5,098,921
Cayuga County -- $107,047 / $5,291,686
Chautauqua County -- $187,170 / $9,481,076
Erie County -- $860,687 / $61,410,960
Genesee County -- $83,483 / $12,556,944
Livingston County -- $89,637 / $3,381,747
Monroe County -- $683,647 / $40,091,743
Niagara County -- $278,003 / $20,466,264
Orleans County -- $60,923 / $2,529,226
Oswego County -- $115,898 / $9,502,653
City of Rochester -- $269,704 / $20,396,738
Seneca County -- $47,635 / $2,994,175
Steuben County -- $136,002 / $6,692,909
Schuyler County -- $26,509 / $1,055,437
Wayne County -- $128,282 / $5,076,503
Wyoming County -- $57,612 / $1,875,587
“With the close of 2019, we’re able to really see what we’ve accomplished,” said Jacquelyne Leach, chief financial officer for WesternOTB/Batavia Downs. “Our total distributions to municipalities were $3,628,250, bringing our total since our inception to $235,241,469.
"We haven’t had distributions to municipalities in the fourth quarter since 1999 but with 6.85 percent growth in 2019’s fourth quarter, we were able to distribute $417,540 for the quarter to the counties and cities whom we serve.
"At a tax rate of 49 percent almost half of the money generated at Batavia Downs goes to NYS to help fund the State Education Budget. We’re proud to have given the highest amount we’ve ever had back to the citizens of New York.”
Henry Wojtaszek, president, and CEO of Batavia Downs, said: “These numbers are a testament to the hard work put in by our entire staff. By adding more events and promotions, we’ve continued the growth into 2020 with back to back record weeks in February and overall growth of 13 percent through the 24th of February this year.
"With a highly anticipated Summer Concert Series, Racing Dates and promotions we’re looking forward to contributing more to our member municipalities and the State Education Fund.”
About Batavia Downs/WROTB
Owned and operated by 15 Western New York counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo, Western Region Off-Track Betting Corporation is a public benefit corporation with headquarters in Batavia, NY. WROTB owns and operates 17 branches, online Wagering site Bataviabets.com as well as Batavia Downs Gaming, a standardbred racetrack and gaming facility. Since its inception, Western Region OTB has generated over $235 million in operating and surcharge revenues to the taxpayers of those participating municipalities.
