Greene County Democrat

Tag: Luther “Nat” Winn

  • Newswire: Greenetrack says it will fight Alabama Supreme Court decision that it owes $76 million in taxes

    By; John Zippert, Co-Publisher

    At a meeting with Greenetrack employees on Tuesday afternoon, Luther “Nat” Winn, CEO, said he called the meeting to reassure employees that their jobs were not in danger and that Greenetrack was planning to contest this unjust ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court.

    Winn indicated that Greenetrack had been under attack from the State of Alabama, since Bob Riley was Governor, for operating a successful electronic bingo operation, at the former greyhound dog racing track. State of Alabama officials have come twice to close Greenetrack down, they have fought Greene County bingo in the courts and now the Alabama Attorney General has received a decision from the Alabama Supreme Court, ruling that Greenetrack owes $76 million in sales and consumer use taxes for the period 2004 to 2008. The taxes are owed to the Alabama Department of Revenue, based on the state estimates of bingo wagering during this period.

    Winn passed out copies of a July 1 press release from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall which says in part, “From 2004 to 2008, Greenetrack reaped vast profits from its illegal gambling enterprise under a scheme that employed a revolving slate of nonprofit organizations to evade Alabama’s laws and taxes… For example, in 2007, nonprofit organizations received a meager 2.5 percent of the nearly $69 million that Greenetrack netted from its illegal gambling enterprise.”
    The Attorney General’s press release further states, “The Alabama Supreme Court agreed with the Attorney General’s Office, concluding that Greenetrack’s scheme “did not immunize it from taxes” and “did not comply with [Alabama law],” rendering a judgment for the State of Alabama that will allow over $76 million in unpaid taxes and interest to be collected.”
    Winn said that Greenetrack paid state and Federal income taxes every year and he did not understand why the State of Alabama was unfairly attacking a successful Black business, owned by stockholders, who are primarily former and current employees of Greenetrack.
    Winn pointed to his Federal and state tax returns for 2007, in which Greenetrack reported $73 million in revenues, with a net revenue after expenses of $36.4 million. He paid Federal income taxes of $12.7 million and state taxes of $1,218,000. He said governmental agencies and charities received $1.7 million which was over 8% of net revenues, after taxes.
    When questioned, Winn said Greenetrack was exempted from paying Alabama sales and use taxes on monies wagered in both in simulcasting dog and horse races and most importantly in electronic bingo, by state statutes adopted in 1976 and 1986. Winn also said that Greenetrack had won its case that it was exempt from sales taxes on wagering before the Alabama Tax Tribunal and a state appeal to the Circuit Court, which was handled by a judge from St. Clair County.
    Attorney General Marshalled appealed these sales tax cases to the Alabama Supreme Court which reached a different conclusion on every legal issue put before it and decided all of these against Greenetrack, leading to its decision that Greenetrack owed sales and customer use taxes, with interest, totaling $76 million, for the years 2004 – 2008.
    The Supreme Court in its 53-page decision, ruled that Greenetrack was not entitled to sales tax exemption on its bingo operations, only on parimutuel betting. It ruled that Greenetrack was not legally following the requirements of Amendment 743 in its arrangements to host and operate bingo on behalf of governmental agencies and charities in Greene County. It further ruled in favor of the State in calculating revenues received from bingo wagering, which over-estimated the returns to Greenetrack from bettors, by counting all monies bet, rather than the net wagering.
    At the end of the employee meeting, Winn asked employees to pray for him and go to work to do a good job. Winn said that he could not let this unjust decision stand and that he would fight it and expose what the State of Alabama was doing to destroy an African American owned gaming business, one of the most successful ones in the nation.
    Beverly Gordon, another Greenetrack official, compared the attacks by the State of Alabama on Greenetrack to the massacre of the Black business district in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921. She called the attack on Greenetrack, “a modern-day economic lynching of a Black business”.
    Winn said he would keep fighting and keep speaking out on the injustice. He said he planned to hold other press conferences and actions, including legal appeals, until the tax decision is reversed.

  • Eutaw City Council agrees to purchase E-911 building

    Mayor Latasha Johnson presents Juneteenth proclamation to Luther ‘Nat’ Winn, Greenetrack CEO

     

    The Eutaw City Council met for its second Tuesday regular meeting on
    June 14, 2022. All council members and the mayor were present for the meeting.

    The Council agreed to purchase the building on Prairie Avenue, diagonally across the street from the Eutaw City Hall, currently occupied by the E-911 emergency dispatching service. The building will be purchased for $45.000 in four payments of $11,250 over the coming year from Addigene G. Harbor, the current owner. The building will be used for additional office and meeting space for the city, when E-911 moves to its new office on Highway 43.

    The Eutaw City Council voted to approve a one-time longevity bonus for retirees from the city which requires a small additional contribution from the city to the State Retirement Agency.

    The City Council approved an $1,100 work order for city engineers to do the required annual safety inspection of bridges in the city limits.

    The City Council approved requests from Chief of Police, Tommy Johnson for purchase of two Four-Wheeler to use for police work in case of floods, like the recent storms in Branch Heights and to search missing persons in wooded areas; and approved holding the 2nd Annual First Responders Parade on June 30, 2022.

    Also approved by the Council was purchasing a new John Deere Backhoe Loader-4WD, for the approximate cost of $100,000, in the next year’s budget; approved payment of bills and claims; and authorized a contract to Pastor Construction company for less than $50,000, to repair the culvert under Springfield Avenue, rip-rap the creek bank and repair the curbing, at a site behind City Hall.

    The Eutaw City Council voted to approve a proclamation honoring Juneteenth and approved celebrating the national holiday, commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. in Galveston, Texas in 1865. Mayor Johnson presented the proclamation to Luther “Nat” Winn, CEO of Greenetrack that is holding several events to honor Juneteenth.

    In her remarks, Mayor Latasha Johnson said that ADEM has stopped the City of Eutaw from burning trash collected from city streets like tree limbs, old furniture, mattresses and other materials. “We do not have a city landfill to dispose of large garbage items. We have several dumpsters behind City Hall but it is expensive to get them emptied and serviced. We also do not have a dump truck to transport excess materials to a landfill. We may need to consider adding $2 or $3 as a fee, added to our water bills, to handle the trash that people take out of their houses and set on the streets.”

    The Mayor said the city was considering purchasing a heavy-duty chipper to chip up tree limbs and similar waste left in the city.

    Chief Tommy Johnson reported that the body of Officer Croom was driven through the city on its way from Meridian, Mississippi, where he was killed to his final resting place in his hometown of Tuscaloosa. Croom served for a short time as a member of the Eutaw Police Force. Other council members commented on road and street problems as well as burned out houses that the city needs to condemn.