Report Shows NYSGC Failed To Collect Over $17M From 4 Casinos

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) has received some flak in the media after a report from the New York State Comptroller’s Office showed that the gaming regulator had failed to collect an outstanding amount of over $14 million dollars from four casinos.

The four casinos that have not paid their dues are Tioga Downs Casino, Rivers Casino & Resort, Resorts World and Lago Resort & Casino. These four commercial casinos committed had oversight fees pending from April 2017 and March 2019.

The Comptroller’s report showed that these casinos were billed a combined amount of $9.3 million as a result of oversight fees in November 2019 and were given 30 days to remit the amount. The four casinos have yet to remit any fees and the NYSGC hasn’t made any noise so far.

The report also showed that the gaming regulator did not bill these four commercial casinos an additional $3.7 million in fees with regards to non-personal services that cover supplies and office equipment. The NYSGC also submitted bills to these four casinos to pay additional oversight fees that were incurred during April 2019 to March 2020.

The total amount of these oversight fees totalled $4.7 million, which makes the total outstanding amount owed to the NYSGC over $17 million. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was critical of the gaming regulator and said that they need to step up and do a better job as the gambling industry needs better oversight.

The report also showed that while the NYSGC failed to collect these oversight fees from the four commercial casinos, they did end up collecting over $153 million in combined fees from tribal casinos in the state and video lottery terminals (VLT).

Comptroller Recommendations To NYSGC

The Comptroller has submitted a number of recommendations to the NYSGC to help them collect the millions of dollars that are outstanding in oversight fees. A number of other recommendations and suggestions were also put forward. One of those was to point out the lack of a clear policy when it comes to collecting and resolving oversight fee disputes.

The NYSGC was also challenged on its thoroughness in monitoring gaming revenues that flowed at tribal casinos. Comptroller DiNapoli said that while the NYSGC has made changes to its operations, more needs to be done especially now that New York is looking to issue gaming licenses to three new casinos.