NY Governor Spitzer wants to yank half of the money that communities get from video gaming machines at racinos next year — and that’s going to mean a loss of more than $1 million used to reduce taxes in Sullivan County, the Village of Monticello and the Town of Thompson – the Times Herald Record reports.

Contained in Spitzer’s budget is a proposal to cut the state aid to 17 communities that comes from eight racinos, including Monticello Gaming & Raceway. Local governments get 3.5 percent of the take from the VGMs, of which 25 percent goes to the county and the remaining 75 percent to the local communities.

Spitzer proposes to cut that amount in half in 2009-10, and in 2010-11 force communities to justify their aid by doing a cost-benefit analysis of having a racino, a move that likely will reduce the amount further. Funding for this year will remain the same.

In 2007, Sullivan, Monticello and Thompson received more than $2.3 million; Monticello and Thompson used most of their share to offset tax increases or for road repair. This year, the communities will receive slightly less money because gaming revenues have declined.

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, D-C-Forestburgh, and Sen. John Bonacic, R-C-Mount Hope, say they’ll try to defeat the proposal.

“Reducing state aid amounts to a property tax hike,” Bonacic says. “It is as simple as that.”

(Source: Times Herald Record)