Tax breaks for track owners dogged as insult to race fans

Sentinel correspondent

Madison Greyhound owners, including former Marquette University head basketball coach Hank Raymonds, objected Monday to tax breaks given to dog track owners in the proposed state budget.

Speaking to a crowded meeting of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, Raymonds criticized a proposed increase in the amount track owners can keep from the money wagered by race track patrons.

He called the proposed increases of the so-called "takeouts" by track owners "a slap in the face to greyhound racing fans."

Gov. Tommy G. Thompson's budget proposes that takeouts increase by 3% to 20% of the regular racing handle and 2% to 25% of the handle in multiple- pool races, such as a trifecta.

Increasing the amount track owners can deduct decreases the winnings available to bettors and would be "bad for business," Raymonds said.

"When business is bad you don't increase prices. This isn't a necessity, but a luxury activity," said Raymonds, an owner of Hank's Dream, a greyhound that races at Dairyland Greyhound Race Track in Kenosha.

Raymonds acknowledged that race tracks are in financial trouble, but said the tracks are not about to go out of business. Giving track owners more means less for track patrons.

"If the people win more money, guess where it will go? Back to the track in increased wagering," Raymonds said.

Increasing the track owner's takeout has no budget impact, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The budget proposes to reduce the percentage of the state's pari-mutuel tax on the amount wagered during the year at each track. It would reduce state tax revenue by $2.3 million, according to the fiscal bureau.

A representative of the National Greyhound Association, which represents dog owners, supported the proposed cut in the pari- mutuel tax.

"There is the possibility that in the long run the tracks could eventually go to off-track betting, where they would run very few live races and run practically all simulcast racing and that would be very detrimental to greyhound owners," said Gary Guccione, the association's executive director.

More than 250 people testified during the hearing, which exceeded seven hours. Among other matters at Monday's hearing, one of several on the budget being held around the state:

{} A Milwaukee-based education group asked the committee to cut the size of the Department of Public Instruction to allow decisions "to be made closer to home."

Andy Friesch, director of Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools, said many DPI initiatives run counter to local control of schools.

{} Robert H. Wills, former editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, urged the committee to restore the proposed $180,000 cut in the Wisconsin Privacy Council's budget.

The 2-year-old council seeks to safeguard privacy of medical and other personal information easily shared through widespread computerization, said Wills, the council's chairman.

{} Union employees of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics opposed a budget recommendation to establish a public authority to control the Madison-based hospital, saying public accountability would decrease if control was taken from the UW System.

Hospital employees speaking in favor of the authority said it would give the hospital the flexibility it needed to meet the demands of the marketplace.

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