West Virginia lawmakers, looking for ways to enhance the appeal to potential buyers of the storied but now troubled Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, have set proposed rules for slot machines and table games at the property, through legislation introduced on March 13. In November 2008, West Virginia voters narrowly approved a referendum to authorize gambling at the property.
The Greenbrier is currently owned by CSX Corp., which announced in January 2009 that it had hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. to study possible strategies for the property, which lost $35 million in 2007. During 2008, the resort began to experience severe cancellations after a nearly year-long dispute over health care and part-time benefits with nine unions representing workers at the property led to authorization of a strike last April.
The 720-room resort also announced in January 2009, when occupancy was running at around 100 rooms, that it was furloughing nearly half of its 1,350 employees. The resort said it could rehire workers if business improves in the spring.
The unions’ leaders, noting that winter furloughs are not unusual for the property, have promoted casino-style gambling at the resort as a way to bring in new revenue and increase attendance. The resort’s ownership has not yet made a public effort to support the concept, but a study of gambling’s potential for the property was included in the directives given to Goldman, Sachs.
According to WOWK-TV, the new legislation would set a gross receipts tax for revenues from slot machines and table games at 35 percent, and for video lottery machines at 53 percent. Proceeds from the taxes would be put into a special fund to be divided among the state, Greenbrier County and the town of White Sulphur Springs; a portion would also support a special “Human Resources Benefits Fund.”
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