Horse Stall Renters

October 28th, 2024

To Whom It May Concern:

On Monday, October 21st, the Warren County Agricultural Society made an incredibly difficult decision to vacate all harness racing renters and their subletters effective December 1st, 2024. The Warren County Fairgrounds has been home to hundreds of harness racing horses, trainers, and additional staff on our practice track since Lebanon Raceway was purchased in December 2012, and official races would be held at Miami Valley Gaming Racino. While the Board recognizes the heritage surrounding this relationship, the harness racing stall / tack rental and harness racing training track operations have caused an overwhelming financial burden on the Warren County Agricultural Society (WCAS) due to non-payment of rent.

To summarize, below are some measures the WCAS Board of Directors has taken to attempt to resolve issues of non-payment from our renters:

·         In Spring 2024, WCAS issued updated stall rental agreement contracts that did not increase stall rent but updated the terms of the agreement between a renter and WCAS. To date, less than 10% of our renters agreed to sign and return said contracts.

·         On October 1st, 2024, stall rent increased from $125.00 to $150.00 a stall to better cover expenses for the facility. Prior to this, stall rent had not increased since September 2021. This pricing is based on covering WCAS overhead expenses for utilities, water, manure hauling, trash, and facility maintenance labor for the stall rental / training facility property.

·         In addition to the rent increase on October 1st, WCAS implemented a requirement that each renter have a credit card or ACH payment on file for WCAS to reserve the right to charge for monthly invoices. A posting was placed on each facility barn regarding this change and forms were also emailed out to renters.

·         However, as of the Monday, October 21st WCAS board meeting, only 4 of 45 renters completed the required forms.

WCAS’s volunteer Board of Directors and current staff made significant efforts this year on recordkeeping and invoicing for facility usage by each renter and respective subletter and for enforcement of timely payments. Despite these efforts, WCAS still has tens of thousands of dollars in outstanding, unpaid rent for 2024 from harness racing training facility renters as of Friday, October 25th. Operating expenses for WCAS continue to mount in the form of utilities, water, manure hauling, trash, and facility maintenance labor for which rent is not being paid.

The WCAS’s purpose is to promote Agriculture and Education in Warren County. The financial decision made by the WCAS Board of Directors will not have any impact on our plans for the 175th Warren County Fair, future fairs, 4-H, or any fair programming. WCAS reserves the right to make decisions regarding rental agreements in the best interests of the organization as needed. At this time, however, it is no longer an agreement that the organization can financially maintain and still support our purpose as a non-profit organization.

Regards,

WCAS Board of Directors