Plan to move racetrack clobbers Ruidoso

RUIDOSO, N.M. (KRQE-KBIM) - Ruidoso could become a ghost town if the Ruidoso Downs racetrack is allowed to pack up and move to Las Cruces, the town attorney said Thursday.

And with the track owners holding out for a tax break, thousands of New Mexicans who depend on gambling to keep their local economy going are being held hostage, Ruidoso Town Attorney John Underwood said Thursday.

The owners of the horse track outside the mountain resort town had said if they didn't get a tax cut, they'll have to pull out. On Thursday Ruidoso Downs officials formally submitted an application to the New Mexico Racing Commission asking to move to Las Cruces for the 2011 season.

After 62 years the racetrack and the newer Billy the Kid Casino could soon pull up stakes.

Today at the New Mexico racing commission meeting, downs officials handed in an application to move to Las Cruces for the 2011 season.

"We really love the Ruidoso area and don't want to move, but the competition is such that we have to look at different options,” Ruidoso Downs President and General Manager Ann McGovern said outside the commission meeting.

The Downs pays a fixed tax rate of 26 percent and for the past four years has asked legislators to lower the rate over time down to 10 percent, she added.

Some at Thursday's meeting said that would be hard given the states budget crisis.

"The issue is not about the tax fairness act," Underwood said. "That won't cost the state of New Mexico nearly that much money as the devastation of moving the track out of Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs.

The race track said it’s losing on average $2 million a year because of the competition from nearby casinos. A move to Las Cruces would mean a larger market population with the nearest track and casino roughly 40 miles away at Sunland Park.

The threat of moving is already having an effect on the Ruidoso area, according to Underwood.

"Basically our economic devastation from the move of the track started upon the request for change of location,” he said. News of the possible move stalled housing deals and stopped some banks from loaning money to local businesses, he added.

Underwood said if the track leaves the Ruidoso valley would lose an estimated $45 million a year in tourism revenue.

"I would expect Ruidoso within three years will join a list of ghost towns in New Mexico," he said.

The race track says it hopes to finally have the tax-lowering bill pass the Senate Finance Committee during the January legislative session.

If not it will be forced to move.

Ruidoso Downs averages 250,000 in attendance each year at race day events. The track said it provides jobs in one form or another for 40 percent of the area's population.