§ 1321-E — Required capital investment

§ 1321-e. Required capital investment. 1. The board shall establish\nthe minimum capital investment for each unawarded gaming facility\nlicense. Such investment may include, but not be limited to, a casino\narea, hotel and other amenities; and provided further, that the board\nshall determine whether it will include the purchase or lease price of\nthe land where the gaming facility will be located or any infrastructure\ndesigned to support the site including, but not limited to, drainage,\nutility support, roadways, interchanges, fill and soil or groundwater or\nsurface water contamination issues. The board may consider private\ncapital investment made previous to the effective date of this title,\nbut may, in its discretion, discount a percentage of the investment\nmade. Upon award of a gaming license by the commission, the commission\nshall require the applicant to deposit no less than five percent and no\nmore than ten percent of the total investment proposed in the\napplication into an interest-bearing account based on the liquidity of\nthe applicant. Monies received from the applicant shall be held in\nescrow until the final stage of construction, as detailed in the\ntimeline of construction submitted with the licensee's application and\napproved by the commission, at which time the deposit plus interest\nearned shall be returned to the applicant to be applied for the final\nstage. Should the applicant be unable to complete the gaming facility,\nthe deposit shall be forfeited to the state. In place of a cash deposit,\nthe commission may allow for an applicant to secure a deposit bond\ninsuring that such percent of the proposed capital investment shall be\nforfeited to the state if the applicant is unable to complete the gaming\nfacility.\n 2. Each applicant shall submit its proposed capital investment with\nits application to the board which shall include stages of construction\nof the gaming facility and the deadline by which the stages and overall\nconstruction and any infrastructure improvements will be completed. In\nawarding a license, the commission shall determine at what stage of\nconstruction a licensee shall be approved to open for gaming; provided,\nhowever, that a licensee shall not be approved to open for gaming until\nthe commission has determined that at least the gaming area and other\nancillary entertainment services and non-gaming amenities, as required\nby the board, have been built and are of a superior quality as set forth\nin the conditions of licensure. The commission shall not approve a\ngaming facility to open before the completion of the permanent casino\narea.\n 3. The board shall determine a licensing fee to be paid by a licensee\nwithin thirty days after the selection of the license, provided however\nthat no licensing fee shall be less than five hundred million dollars.\nThe license shall set forth the conditions to be satisfied by the\nlicensee before the gaming facility shall be opened to the public. All\nrevenues collected from license fees from gaming facilities located\nwithin zone one shall be deposited to a sole custody fund established\nunder the gaming commission, and paid monthly, without appropriation,\ndirectly to the metropolitan transportation authority commercial gaming\nrevenue fund established under section one thousand two hundred\nseventy-j of the public authorities law. All revenues collected from\nlicense fees from gaming facilities located within zone two shall be\ndeposited to the commercial gaming revenue fund established under\nsection ninety-seven-nnnn of the state finance law. The commission shall\nset any renewal fee for such license based on the cost of fees\nassociated with the evaluation of a licensee under this article which\nshall be deposited into the commercial gaming fund. Such renewal fee\nshall be exclusive of any subsequent licensing fees under this section.\n 4. The commission shall determine the sources and total amount of an\napplicant's proposed capitalization to develop, construct, maintain and\noperate a proposed gaming facility under this article. Upon award of a\ngaming license, the commission shall continue to assess the\ncapitalization of a licensee for the duration of construction of the\nproposed gaming facility and the term of the license.\n