Prairie Meadows nears lease deal with county
Altoona, IA - Feb. 19, 2011 -
Prairie Meadows and Polk County
officials are discussing a lease
proposal that would pay the
county $25.6 million per year
through 2013, and more after
that if Prairie Meadows'
revenues rise.
The two sides had been talking
about going to mediation, but
that changed after a meeting on
Friday.
"I'm very optimistic that we're
going to get it done," Polk
County Supervisor Tom
Hockensmith said.
Polk County owns Prairie
Meadows' real estate and
properties, but the
racetrack-casino is operated by
a 15-person nonprofit board.
An eight-year lease that expired
on Dec. 31 netted the county $26
million to $27 million per year,
with $15.6 million in rent and
the rest based on Prairie
Meadows' tax rate and the amount
it pays to horse purses.
The details of the pact:
- Starting in 2014, instead of $10 million, the county would receive 5 percent of net casino revenue in addition to the $15.6 million in yearly rent.
The casino revenue is about $200 million per year, which would equal $10 million for Polk County. Prairie Meadows officials expect that to rise once construction on its hotel is completed.
- Prairie Meadows would pay property taxes that are above the current $4.5 million level. The hotel is expected to raise Prairie Meadows' property taxes by more than $1 million.
"Those numbers bring them into what they've gotten before," Prairie Meadows General Manager Gary Palmer said.