To the editor:
The Racing Commission held a meeting on off-track betting that had the elements of the Theatre of the Absurd.
The application to site an OTB facility is not presently completed and therefore was not available for public reading. The meeting was well attended by citizens who therefore do not know the contents of the application.
The following points remain to be examined:
1. The restaurant has been labeled as “family friendly” and therefore children may be in the building and exposed to any problems which may occur in a building with an active bar. Our township board should protect our children and keep that facility off limits to them.
2. There is a very large and elegant bar in the building. Rather than allow 18-year-olds in the building for betting we must insist that the age for entrance must be 21 years of age. A picture ID should be required at the entrance.
3. In the final application there apparently will be a tax abatement for the company. How much? It seems to be a tax bill of $30,000 a year (but, of course, the application is not ready for review.) Nevertheless we can calculate a ballpark figure:
The owners say they have put over $3,000,000 for equipment and improvements. Therefore the land and the building may be worth $4,000,000 for tax purposes.
My Hillsborough house has a market value of $200,000 and a tax of more than $5,000 The OTB enterprise has a worth of 20 times my house, so, if taxed at the same rate, the tax would be $100,000 year.
Quite a difference from the “not yet available” application rate of $30,000 a year!
The Township Committee is well behind the curve and a disservice is being done to the citizens (read that “taxpayers”) of Hillsborough.
Amadeo D’Adamo Jr.
Hillsborough
