Thursday, October 30, 2008

RaceTracks: Just in Time!

Wonderland decided to finally pay its taxes.
REVERE - Owners of Wonderland Greyhound Park wired a lump sum payment yesterday of $752,301 to the City of Revere to cover two years' worth of back taxes and utility bills
No, they weren't worried about the Question 3. They were worried about their license.
The payment makes the track current on its debts to the city through Dec. 30, takes it out of foreclosure, and comes just in time for a reapplication hearing for its operating license this afternoon with the State Racing Commission.
Once upon a time, rumor has it, there were consequences for not paying property taxes: property seizure. Apparently, those rules only apply to people, not special interests. With enough lobbyists and allies in government, two years of tax evasion is no biggie. The Mayor of Revere didn't mind much, but then again he wasn't one of the dozens in Revere to be laid off over the past few years, dozens who wouldn't have lost their jobs if Wonderland paid its share in taxes.

Of course, people can hold Wonderland accountable on Tuesday, even if state officials won't. Vote Yes on 3.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for following this issue.
All other municipallities wouldn't have renewed ANY kind of business license for failure to pay taxes the first year. That might include health inspections/permits, common victulars license, liquor license, city business license, and probably others.
If that's the way Revere is run based on favoritism, maybe that's why they have financial problems.
Did you notice the amount? That means they pay less than $400K per year.

Anonymous said...

Kind of reminds you of the failure of 8 of 16 yacht clubs in and around Boston. They sit on state land and for over 5 years weren't paying their rent. Of course they had some connections, one of the members of one of the clubs was a Dem state senator - Morriseey from Quincy. Wonder why that went on so long.

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