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Hoosier Park exec reassures employees
City expects no disruption in tax payments
ANDERSON, Ind. — A Hoosier Park Racing & Casino executive met with company department heads Monday to update them on the racino’s status as parent company Centaur prepares to go through bankruptcy proceedings while Anderson city officials rested easy on the assurance the city still would receive its Hoosier Park tax money.
“We let (employees) know nothing’s going to change,” racino General Manager of Gaming Jim Brown said. “We’re just trying to give everybody as much information as possible. All of our team members here know this is nothing but a blip because they know that there’s nothing to worry about.”
Anderson Deputy Mayor Greg Graham said he wasn’t worried either about the racino’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed Saturday night in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
“Hoosier Park’s going to be just fine,” Graham said. “I think it’s more a sign of the times. Obviously that very large (state) licensing fee had something to do with this, and the greatest recession since the Great Depression hasn’t helped either.”
Hoosier Park had to pay a $250 million licensing fee to the state before it was able to start operations in 2008. Graham said Hoosier Park’s marketing area, which includes Anderson and much of central and northern Indiana and western Ohio, is more than capable of supporting the racino, Graham said, if it can overcome its tax and licensing fee burdens.
In paperwork filed by Centaur, the company’s assets and liabilities both are between $500 million and $1 billion, and it has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors. The company’s largest creditor is Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust for a contract worth more than $28.7 million. Centaur owns casinos in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Colorado.
Anderson city utilities is Centaur’s eighth largest creditor, according to the petition, for a total of $70,377.
Graham said the racino had been a “good corporate citizen” and had not had trouble with its utility payments.
Other creditors included Anderson’s Ed Martin auto dealer, the Indiana Horse Racing Commission and the state auditor.
Centaur spokeswoman Susan Kilkenny said all goods and services purchased after the bankruptcy filing would be paid, and the company planned to pay pre-petition claims “to the extent of the law.”
“Tax payments to local city and state governments will not be disrupted,” she said.
Although the state and the Indiana Gaming Commission are not parties to Indianapolis-based Centaur’s bankruptcy proceedings, IGC Executive Director Ernie Yelton said that agency would continue to ensure Hoosier Park’s operations fulfilled the commission’s regulations and that the racino continued to pay its taxes.
“Neither of those will be any problem whatsoever,” Yelton said. “The casino will remain in operation. People will not be fearful of their jobs.”
Yelton said Hoosier Park’s bankruptcy, one of four such situations for Indiana casinos in recent years, was indicative of difficult economic times but not of Indiana’s ability to support gaming.
“Regretfully, we’re getting a little bit too familiar with the process,” Yelton said. “I believe it’s a sign of the economic times and a result of the recession and tightening of the credit markets.
“There are many, many factors that influence this situation. There are many other gaming companies that are able to continue without seeking bankruptcy protection. I wouldn’t go so far to say that this is an omen of gaming in Indiana.”
Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com.
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