Gambling on our Future

On June 9th 2007 residents of Jefferson County will have a chance to vote on whether to approve the table gaming referendum. If approved, the referendum will trigger the West Virginia Lottery Racetrack Table Games Act that allows table gaming like poker and blackjack at Charles Town Races and Slots, along with three other venues across the state. While there have been a few public debates and forums on the referendum, many potential voters remain confused on some of the core issues. Therefore, the Shepherdstown Observer invited seven local residents, with diverse perspectives, to contribute their thoughts on the issues at hand.

Pete Dougherty, President of Jefferson County Board of Education

We have an opportunity to stand up for our children’s education by voting YES on the June 9 Table Games Revenues & Jobs Referendum. As parents, we all know that schools in Jefferson County face serious financial problems. Our schools are at capacity and we are now using more than 20 portable classrooms at eight of our elementary schools. Building two new elementary schools after using anticipated impact fees will cost an estimated $12-15 million dollars. We need those schools now.

If voters approve table games at Charles Town Races, our school system may have enough money to build the schools without seeking a property tax increase to pay for them. That’s good for our schools and good for local taxpayers

Under the state’s new table games law, passage of the June 9 referendum would specifically dedicate an estimated $1.5 million per year from table game revenues to fund school improvements and school construction in Jefferson County. These new revenues will be based on conservative estimates provide $15 million and I believe after careful review may produce more than twice that amount for our schools over the next 10 years, without increasing your taxes.

Our schools will also benefit from the estimated $3.2 million of additional property taxes the racetrack will pay for the new facilities it plans to add if the referendum is approved. This will provide even more funding for classroom education, police and fire, and other local services and help hold down the property tax burden on homeowners. Much of that increased funding will go directly into salaries and benefits for teachers and other school personnel.

As I have publicly stated, we won’t get a better chance than this to improve our schools. That’s why every member of the Board of Education supports a YES vote on the Table Game Revenues & Jobs Referendum.

The millions of dollars in new revenues from table games and additional property taxes will also free up existing school funding so that more dollars can be spent to improve teacher salaries and classroom education. And, as we all know, attracting and retaining good teachers is vital to our children’s education.

Voting YES on the referendum provides a number of other significant benefits for Jefferson County. Millions of dollars from table game license fees will be dedicated to funding in-home care for senior citizens. Hundreds of new, good-paying jobs will be created for local people. More revenues to horsemen and horse breeder will help preserve local farmland and open space.

Hundreds of Jefferson County residents have already joined as members of the grassroots coalition supporting a YES vote on the referendum. Like me, they all agree that passage of this measure is good for Jefferson County.

Charles Town Races for more than a decade has been a partner with education. Their charitable contributions have helped us develop our arts and athletic programs at Jefferson High School, provided our students with college scholarships, and together we created a partnership with T.A. Lowey Elementary School in order to offer our students enrichment activities.

With opportunity, comes responsibility. The June 9 referendum is our opportunity to improve our schools and our children’s future without raising your taxes. Our responsibility is to go to the polls and vote YES on the Table Game Revenues & Jobs Referendum.

John Doyle, W.Va. Delegate

What would result from a defeat of the table games referendum on June 9. Would this mean there would be no chance of ever having table games at the Charles Town Races?

Oh, no. Rejecting the June 9 referendum would not necessarily be the final chapter in the table games drama.

The statute passed by the legislature this year permitting the games at Charles Town and the other horse racing track (plus the two dog tracks) in our state allows the issue, if a referendum is defeated, to be put again before the voters after a two year wait. All that would be required is a decision by the County Commission to hold the election. If requested by Penn National Gaming, Inc (PNGI), owner of the Charles Town Races and Slots, the County Commission would be required to hold the election. We could easily see another table games referendum as early as June of 2009, should table games be rejected at upcoming June 9 referendum.

Should the referendum pass, the voters would have to wait five years to vote them back out, should they decide they’d made a bad bargain. To accomplish this, a petition would have to be presented to the County Commission, signed by five percent of the registered voters in Jefferson County.

These are the same rules that apply to the slots that have been at the track since 1996. Indeed, the law now permits anyone who wishes to do so to circulate a petition to vote the slots at the Charles Town Races out of existence. If this petition were to be signed by five percent of the county’s voters, an election must be held to decide the matter. This avenue has been available to the public since 2001.

There are three problems with allowing table games to pass. First, our county and city governments (recipients of the slots money) have become dependent upon the revenue, even though that revenue is less than 4 percent of the money the state gets. If the table games referendum is successful, local schools would become dependent on the paltry sum they would get from the tables (which is, again, a small fraction of what the state is to get).

Secondly, If the referendum on June 9 is defeated, PNGI does not have to present a petition to get a new election. If it passes, dissatisfied citizens do.

Thirdly, PNGI only has to wait two years, should it lose this referendum. Should it win, dissatisfied voters must wait five.

If we reject table games on June 9, and one or more of the other three counties passes them this year, we can monitor the games there and check the results. Were the financial forecasts accurate? Did crime rise? What else did or did not happen?

Defeating the referendum does not end the discussion, it continues it. Is a better deal possible for Jefferson County? Who knows? Let’s find out.

Pastor Douglas Fraim, Bolivar Charge of the United Methodist Church

Table Games just don’t seem to be right for West Virginia. I know that the school board has bought into the monies that have been promised, but can we rely on that to come to fruition? The answer might be found in the two other times promises have been made by the gambling interest and they did not come through. We also know that the schools in Jefferson county need funds to make repaired and improvements to the schools. Not to mention the teachers pay which must be brought up to par.

I believe that we must bring in appropriate businesses, and not teach our children that we rely on gambling to pay the bills for the state, the county, the city, and the family. We are told that table games will bring in 500 new jobs. Oh, boy this sounds great. Stop, and think, where will these jobs come from? Do we have these people in our midst now. I don’t think so,.500 new jobs, 500 new homes, 500 new families, 500 more cars on the road, how much gridlock can we stand?

God has given us the right to choose our lifestyle. But he asks us to follow his example on how to live our lives. Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers and chased them out of the synagogue because they were taking advantage of the people. This is what I believe Penn National is doing to the people who come to the casino to win money and get rich—they take advantage of the people.

I say to the people of Jefferson County, vote No on June 9. No to more traffic! No to Increased Population! No to low wage jobs! No to high rise hotels! No to prostitution! No to false promises. Don’t gamble with Jefferson County. All of you who believe in the morals and ethics of our forefathers who gave us the notion that this was a “Country under God” need to reclaim those morals and ethics. We must not let them buy us with a few promised dollars.

Joe Coakley, Charles Town resident

I will vote against the Jefferson County Table Games referendum, for the reasons listed below.

1. Table Games disbursements totaling three percent of an effective tax of 35 percent will go to the Jefferson County Board of Education (BOE). This disbursement must be used for capital improvements.

2. As I suspected, Jefferson County and its municipalities receive 0 percent.

3. Disbursements totaling 2.5 purses go to racetrack purses. The track at Charles Town does not receive the total 2.5 percent since this amount is pooled [with Mountaneer race track]. However, Charles Town’s projected table games receipts will total much more [than Mountaneer’s]. This means we will effectively subsidize the other race track.

4. Disbursements totaling 2 percent from each track go to the Thoroughbred Development fund and the Greyhound Breeding Development fund. Are they saying that the costs for developing horses equals the costs for breeding dogs?

5. The survey and fact sheet issued by the “Yes for Jefferson County” group takes many liberties with their statements on the projected benefits from table games.

a. “Creation of hundreds of good paying jobs at Charles Town races.” However, they have not defined “good paying.” What do they consider a good paying job—$30,000/year, $40,000/year, or what?

b. “$40 million in new revenues for local schools over the next 10 years.” Within this total they have added table game funds to expected increases in property taxes. While a significant increase in property taxes is expected, it is not due to table games. The track had already stated they are building a 150 room hotel plus a convention center. This was announced before the table games bill even passed.

c. “More revenues to help preserve local family farms and open space.” In this statement they may be referring to disbursements 3 & 4 above. This is stretching the concept of “family farms” and “open space.”

d. “Additional local tax revenue from Charles Town Races to support and improve local roads, public safety, parks, libraries and other public services.” Since neither Jefferson County nor its municipalities receive any table games money, where are these funds coming from?

Finally, we must suffer the other down side if this referendum passes, traffic! More vehicles, more traffic lights and more air pollution.

Eric Lewis, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Board Member

Here’s why I feel we absolutely must pass the table games referendum:

1. Jobs. Penn National will hire 500+ new employees at an average salary of $30,000+ (estimates I’ve heard). Yes we have a low unemployment rate, Joe, but is that ever a reason to say “okay, we’re done?”

That low unemployment rate includes many folks who get in their cars and drive to the DC/Metro area. Not just high paying tech or government workers who ride the train, but hard working blue collar construction workers or service employees who would LOVE to stop making that brutal commute carpooling at 4am cramped in the front of a construction company’s pickup truck.

2. Property Taxes from Penn National. PNGI will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure (hotel, convention center, equipment) generating millions in additional tax dollars. When slots were being proposed certain people questioned PNGI’s commitment to invest the dollars they said they would. PNGI has invested incredible amounts of money to make CTR&S what it is today. They should be commended.

3. Property Taxes from other businesses. Other private entities will most certainly endeavor to build additional infrastructure (hotels, businesses) to serve the additional patrons of the racetrack generating millions of tax dollars.

4. Farming: Slots saved farming in Jefferson County because the additional revenues it added to the horse racing side created a boom in the need for pasture land and hay production. Table Games will do the same and more.

5. Schools. Yes, the entire County share goes directly to the Board of Education. Why is that bad? We need capital improvement dollars locally to leverage for additional funding and we need to free up operational budget dollars to use for salary increases, stipends, cost of living allowances, etc.

6. Increased Slots revenues. The increase in patronage due to table games will almost certainly increase the table games revenues to the County and Municipalities.

7. Conference Space. PNGI will almost certainly invest in large scale conference space at some point in its expansion plans. Wouldn’t it be great to have Jefferson County be a destination for large conferences (creating additional tourism dollars, demand for business services and increased awareness of our agri-tourism)?

8. The “who cares?” factor. West Virginia already has a lottery, video lottery in bars, tip jars, horse racing, dog racing and slots. Table games may be the type of gambling that is most played by folks who can afford to lose. Why could we possibly care about an expansion of gambling when we have almost everything else.

9. Limitations. Based on the table games legislation, table games (and slots) can only be housed at facilities with a race track. That’s it. Four in the entire State. Donald Trump can’t come in and buy land next door and put in a casino. Can’t happen without an act of the legislature.

10. Crime. Crime has NOT increased since slots were approved and most certainly will NOT increase due to table games.

Linda Hoffman, Founder of Vote NO for Table Games

As a Jefferson County school service personnel employee and former resident of the Atlantic City region, I am deeply concerned about the impact that table games will have on our schools, families, and children. Although the promises of additional money for schools may sound enticing, I urge residents to carefully look at all the facts and consider the possible consequences before casting their votes.

Promises of funding for schools have to be evaluated carefully and may end up being just a mirage. This is because the state can redirect funds from our county, resulting in no net benefit to our schools. The state of West Virginia already views Jefferson County as a ‘rich’ county. There is nothing to prevent the SBA from slashing its allocation for Jefferson County. The promise of table gaming money will then be illusory.

The estimated $1.5 million to be gained from table games is a small percentage of the current $71 million general revenue budget. The additional social costs of family breakdown and addiction associated with table gaming must be taken into consideration when factoring the increased burden to our schools. Since our children are the youngest victims when families are in crisis, additional counselors and behavior disorder classes will be needed in response to their difficulties. Additionally, since many hotel employees frequently are non-English speaking, we will need more ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers. There is no provision for teachers’ salaries in the bill. John Kindt calculates that for every $1 received in gaming income, the cost is $3 to the community.[statement before a hearing of U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business, September 21, 1994].

Perhaps most important, since numerous statistics confirm casino gaming increases crime, bankruptcy rates, higher suicide rates, divorce and substance abuse, table gaming expansion will greatly harm the lives of the children in our community. Adolescents may be the biggest victims of the table gaming expansion. Statistics show that despite age restrictions, teens are able to access legalized table gaming and they pay a heavy price. They are 3 times more likely than adults to become addicted to gambling once exposed, according to Loma Linda University Medical School Professor Durand Jacobs. [“Monitoring Adolescent Gambling in Minnesota”] Durand notes that at least one in ten teens engages in illegal activity [stealing, shoplifting, selling drugs, or prostitution] to finance their gambling.

If passed, the table games referendum has the potential to drastically harm our most vulnerable citizens: our children. Please consider the negative impact on families and our schools before casting your vote. Consider the legacy we are leaving our children.

Jim Surkamp, Jefferson County Commissioner

Because revenues from video lottery has increased the racing purses fourfold in the last nine years at Charles Town Races, this has become one of—if not the—busiest racetrack in the United States. The number of horse farms has tripled during that time.

This increase in horse farms in the Eastern Panhandle is further encouraged by what is called the West Virginia Breeder’s Fund, which sets aside extra bonuses when a horse bred in this state wins a race. Further, at the last legislative session, the state approved a bill that allows running two races a day at Charles Town just for West Virginia horses.

All of these forces encourage horse breeders to buy up West Virginia farmland or farmettes to be converted into horse farms. Grain farms growing corn and wheat are facing stiff global competition—so they sell. On the other hand, horse racing is a great boost to farmers selling hay and straw.

Studies by the American Farmland Trust across the nation calculate the costs of providing services to farmland compared to residential development. For every dollar of local tax revenue generated by farmland, only thirty cents is spent on needed services. This is much better than the same land having tract development. Each dollar in tax revenue generated by residential development can cost local government as much as $1.30 in services (largely because of the additional costs of providing for schooling to the children in these homes).

So having the horse racing industry strong and growing in the county saves taxpayers money while preserving open land and maintaining the character of the county.