BATAVIA DOWNS / OTB CLOSES YEAR WITH RECORD NUMBERS
Written by WBTA STAFF on February 27, 2020
Press Release:
BATAVIA – 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 4th quarter for the first time since 1999. Batavia Downs Gaming contributed $31,315,212.38 Million 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 4th quarter since 1999 but with 6.85% growth in 2019’s 4th 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% 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.”
“These numbers are a testament to the hard work put in by our entire staff, “said Henry Wojtaszek, President and CEO of Batavia Downs. “By adding more events and promotions, we’ve continued the growth into 2020 with back to back record weeks in February and an overall growth of 13% thru 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.”
