DUBUQUE RACING ASSOCIATION

DUBUQUE RACING ASSOCIATION. Recipient, FIRST CITIZEN AWARD. In 1985 the Dubuque Racing Association began operations as a community organization. The holder of gambling licenses for DUBUQUE GREYHOUND PARK AND CASINO and the DUBUQUE CASINO BELLE, the association on May 20, 1991 had a 'bond fire' in which a replica mortgage, representing payment of the $7.9 million general obligation bonds used to build the Dubuque Greyhound Park in 1985, was burned.

While the 'bond fire' meant that local taxpayers no longer had to be concerned about the track's debt, the bonds would not be paid off until 1995. DRA officials were prohibited from retiring the entire debt before that date, so the remaining balance due, $2.75 million plus $891,000 interest, was placed in an escrow account at AMERICAN TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK. Despite the presence of other dog tracks, the Dubuque Greyhound Park by 1991 was the only Iowa track to be debt free, fourteen years early, and therefore able to show a profit despite competition. (1)

DRA reported on January 15, 1992, that it was debt-free after paying off $4 million in tax increment bonds owed on the Dubuque ICE HARBOR project.

The Dubuque Racing Association had a $69 million impact on Dubuque by 1992. This included $16.8 million paid to bondholders; a payroll of $14.2 million; $11.6 million paid in purses to kennels and dog owners; $3 million paid to the city in taxes, grants, uncashed mutuel tickets, and rent; and donations to charities.

Reflecting the changing environment of Iowa's gambling industry, in August 1993 the DRA chose to eliminate the position of executive director. The job had been created in 1990 to oversee riverboat gambling and had been filled by Dubuque attorney Sidney Blum. In 1992 DUBUQUE GREYHOUND PARK AND CASINO had lost $850,000 although income from riverboat operations had resulted in a profit of $522,000. Betting and attendance at the track in 1993 had been below estimates and no income had come in from riverboat gambling since the DUBUQUE CASINO BELLE had left. (2)

Contributions to the community continued. In 2015 the Dubuque Racing Association announced they were awarding more than $1.1 million in grants to 176 local charitable organizations. The grants ranged from $985 to $25,000, averaging just over $6,600 with 58 organizations receiving full funding for their projects and 48 schools or school districts receiving more than $257,000, or 22 percent of the grant money. (3)

Directors of the Dubuque Racing Association, the license holder for MYSTIQUE CASINO, on May 17, 2016 approved nearly $1.47 million in grants to 182 area nonprofits. This financial assistance was 26% higher than in 2015. (4)

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Source:

1. Webber, Steve. "DRA Has 'Bond Fire' for Track," Telegraph Herald, May 20, 1991, p. 1

2. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Exec Axed," Telegraph Herald, August 11, 1993, p. 1

2. Hanson, Brad. "Dubuque Racing Association Grants $1.1 Million in Grants," KWWL.com Online: http://www.kwwl.com/story/29117842/2015/05/20/dubuque-racing-association-grants-11-million-in-grants

3. Montgomery, Jeff. "DRA Gives $1.5 Million," Telegraph Herald, May 18, 2016, p. 1