Last month, Hollywood Casino requested Maine officials to consider reduction in the property tax assessment by $36.8 million. State authorities set a deadline for May 8th but they were ready to announce their final say on the matter yesterday.
Phil Drew, the Assessor of Bangor, rejected the aforementioned request and now Hollywood Casino executives are given a 60-day period during which they are legally allowed to appeal the decision of Mr. Drew.
Casino representatives have not released any information concerning their future actions so far. Yet, Hollywood Casino spokesman commented on the rejection and said that currently, casino executives are reviewing all possible alternatives and they will be ready with their future plans really soon.
If the tax relief request had been approved, the city would have been obliged to return more than $870,000 in taxes to the casino. This is the total amount of funds Hollywood casino has paid over the years.
As already reported, casino officials entered into talks with Mr. Drew as they claimed the value of their downtown properties is considerably lower than the amount assessed by the city Assessor.
In the response, submitted by Mr. Drew, was mentioned that Ernst & Young was the company that provided assessment for Penn National casino properties. However, the assessment of another company, KPMG, was quite different from the one provided by KPMG.
The latter evaluated the three downtown properties at $108.43 million. The appraisal took place only five months before the city assessment and Mr. Drew argued there was no evidence that during the above-mentioned period the value of the property was so significantly changed. However, the KPMG representatives were not proved to have boosted the value of the property, as well.
In addition, Mr Drew did not approve of the statements released by the casino as according to him, the data included was insufficient.
Hollywood Casino officials released a statement on the matter and said that the tax reduction request was not a result of financial struggle, but admitted that the local industry have to deal with the increased competition of the neighboring states.
Although Hollywood Casino is not currently facing any serious financial obstacles, its general manager Jose Flores admitted that they have to stay focused on how to keep the casino industry in Maine flourishing.
As far as the abatement request is concerned, Mr. Flores said it is primarily due to the increase in assessed value, which was applicable during the last year. People with knowledge on the matter reminded that back in 2014, the casino market value was increased by 3.6% to reach $98.2 million.
