Bill would allow off-track betting at another facility

BOISE – Sen. Dick Compton wants to allow off-track betting at a location in Kootenai County other than the Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park.

The Senate State Affairs Committee introduced a bill Monday sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Republican that would allow off-track betting on simulcasts of races at another facility in Kootenai County, if approved by the County Commission.

The legislation, Compton said, would help reduce the negative economic impact to the county and various other entities if the Greyhound Park in Post Falls were converted to other uses by the current owners or prospective buyers.

“This is really a greater facility than is needed for simulcasting,” Compton told the senators.

Off-track betting brings in more than $500,000 annually to several different funds, he said, including a little over $12,000 each to Kootenai County and the Public School Income Fund. The largest sum, $161,000, goes to the Idaho Racing Commission.

“This would ensure those funds still existed if the park was sold,” Compton said.

He said the owners of the Greyhound Park have considered selling the park, but they have not found any prospective buyers yet. Nor does he know of any potential alternate sites for the simulcasting.

The state banned live dog races in 1996 after accusations of animal cruelty in the Post Falls facility. At its height, the park, which opened in 1988, ran 700 greyhounds and employed 200 people.

Now the large park is used for various events such as concerts and tribal gatherings. The off-track betting portion of the facility takes up a small percentage of the space.

Though off-track betting doesn’t generate the same kind of revenue as live racing, it still has some value, said Jonathan Coe, president of the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The most important thing is that it’s in a single location,” Coe said.

As a former Kootenai County commissioner, Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, said he would support Compton’s bill if it reaches the House.

“It brings significant revenue to the state, and it’s an entertainment appreciated by the residents in the county,” Henderson said.

When he was a county commissioner, Henderson dealt with simulcasting at the park numerous times, and “it’s no problem,” he said.

“There are no negatives that I can see,” Henderson added.

Though Marilyn Deutsch, the general manager of the Riverbend Inn in Post Falls, hasn’t seen the legislation, she’s worried that the money off-track betting brings in for tourism promotion would be affected by the new law. About 1 percent of the revenue from simulcasting is given to the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls Chambers of Commerce.

“No matter where (off-track betting) is, we still need a percentage of the take,” said Deutsch, who, like Coe, attended an Idaho Association of Chambers of Commerce conference in Boise on Monday.