Gambling plans encompass state casino, slots at track, tavern machines

By Pat Doyle

Star Tribune

      Campaigning to put thousands of new slot machines in a state-tribal casino, at a horse-racing track or in taverns from Roseau to Rochester, promoters of expanded gambling in Minnesota pitched their plans Wednesday to legislators, who began to question calculations behind the promises of a jackpot for the state.

      Bar operators announced plans for slot machines in thousands of taverns, arguing that they would generate more money for the state than the tribal-state casino favored by Gov. Tim Pawlenty or the casino sought by the Canterbury Park racetrack.

      And legislators heard that the Canterbury Park proposal would set the stage for even more efforts to expand casino gambling. One provision would allow a casino at the newly licensed harness racing track and card room in Anoka County after it has been running races for five years and if it obtains local approval for slot machines.

      The House Gaming Division plans to vote Friday on the Canterbury Park casino, dubbed a "racino," and the state-tribal casino proposals.

      The bar slots represented the latest proposal this year for using gambling wagers to pay state expenses. Proponents said the slots would raise $352 million or more a year for the state general fund.

      They also said slots in bars throughout the state would be preferable to a casino in one region.

      "This proposal, instead, has winners in every corner of the state, versus a casino that would only benefit the metropolitan economy," said Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm.

      Backers of tavern slots envision up to 5 machines per bar. In addition to pumping $352 million into the general fund, the slots were promoted as providing $70 million for the state environmental trust fund.

      Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, said the trust fund provision was included in part because proponents believe that it would help pass constitutional muster. The state Constitution guarantees that some State Lottery proceeds go to the trust fund, and the bar slots would be owned or leased by the lottery.

      About $87 million in annual bar slots revenue would go to charitable gambling organizations that currently receive money from pulltabs sold in taverns. Tavern owners would take in about $194 million a year under the plan.

      By contrast, the state-tribal casino would provide a one-time $200 million payment to the state and about $164 million a year afterward. Canterbury would provide a one-time fee of $100 million and an estimated $100 million a year in new revenue after the casino is fully operating.

      Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, questioned the basis for different estimates of individual slot machine revenue under the proposals. While each machine in the tribal-state casino was projected to bring in an average of $295 a day, Canterbury Park estimates that each of its slots would earn $212 a day in its first year, and that the bar slots would average $156 a day. The state-tribal casino and bar figures are based on what slot machines in similar facilities in other states generate.

      Atkins suggested that the tribal-state casino projections might be overly optimistic when compared with those of Canterbury Park, and asked for more financial information on the proposals before Friday's committee meeting "so we can look at [it] and figure out the math."