Intralot, which is based in Greece, will be paid whichever is greater: $1.75 million or 1.435 percent of all slot revenues minus payouts to players.
State Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, objected to the deal, saying that a competitive process is the only way to assure “we’re getting the best possible value for the state.”
Burke told the state Controlling Board that the lottery would seek competitive bids “whenever it is feasible to do so.” In the interim, she said, the deal with Intralot will to help Ohio meet its self-imposed deadline to have the slots operating by May 2010.
Last year, Intralot won the contract to run the lottery’s central operating system and included a provision to provide a slot machine operating system.
This will be Intralot’s first VLT central operating system in the United States.
If any court challenges put a halt to the plan to add slots to the racetracks, the state would be on the hook for Intralot’s expenses up to that point, Burke said.
Two lawsuits are pending and a third legal challenge was launched Monday when three Ohio House members and Ohio Christian Alliance filed a complaint in the state Supreme Court.
The latest lawsuit contends that the plan violates a provision in the Ohio Constitution prohibiting the state from going into business with private companies, in this case the seven racetracks.
“This is a back-door attempt to get casino-style gambling in Ohio,” state Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, said at a news conference. Reps. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, and Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, joined him.
The plan expands the Ohio Lottery to include the video slots and is expected to raise $933 million in two years for K-12 education.
Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman, said the constitution gives the governor the authority to establish the terms under which the Ohio Lottery operates and the legislature gave its backing to the plan in the budget bill.
The Ohio Roundtable, a Cleveland-area conservative public policy group, has filed a lawsuit also charging that the slots plan is unconstitutional.
LetOhioVote.org, another conservative group, filed the first lawsuit against the plan. That suit asked the court to let the group mount a campaign to put the gambling proposal before voters in November 2010.
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, the seven racetracks are required to submit detailed applications and the first $13 million payment toward the $65 million per track licensing fee. Burke said she expects six of the seven tracks to meet the deadline. The exception is Cleveland’s Thistledown track, which is in bankruptcy proceedings.
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@ DaytonDailyNews.com.
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