Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority seeks $77.5 million from states, tracks for 2024

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will seek to collect $77.5 million in fees from state racing commissions and racetracks in 2024 for its operating budget, according to documents HISA posted on its website Monday night.

The assessments, which are based on a formula taking into account the number of starts in a racing state adjusted to its level of purses, cover the costs of HISA’s various programs, including race-day and out-of-competition sample collection, drug testing, and safety accreditations, among other costs. Nearly all of the states also are eligible for some credits, based on work that the racing commissions perform on behalf of HISA. The credits total $18.5 million.

For 2023, HISA had $66.5 million in total assessments, with $16.4 million available in credits, according to last year’s documents. The total assessments represented approximately $142.64 in costs per start, whereas this year, the per-start cost is $168.68.

This year, the Horseracing Integrity and Wagering Unit, which runs HISA’s drug-testing program and conducts investigations and adjudications, did not start its operations until May 27, impacting assessments for the current year.

Under HISA’s enabling legislation, assessments are first made to the racing commissions, which can elect to remit the fees or pass the responsibility on to the state’s tracks. States and tracks have made a number of arrangements with HISA to provide the funding. One state, Florida, passed legislation last year providing the assessment out of the state budget.

The highest assessment for 2024 went to New York, at $9.05 million, followed by Kentucky at $8.50 million, and then California, at $7.67 million.

Among notable racing states, both Texas and Nebraska were not given an assessment. Last year, the tracks in those states elected not to send their signals out-of-state for simulcasting purposes to avoid regulation by HISA.

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