PARIS — With municipal budgets strained, the towns of Paris, Mechanic Falls and Poland are increasingly concerned about the impacts of increased traffic from the proposed Oxford casino.
At a meeting Friday morning, local police and town officials voiced their concerns and their hopes of getting some kind of benefit from casino revenues as the town of Oxford will.
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According to the statewide referendum passed by voters last November, 16 percent of net table game income and 46 percent of slot machine income would go to various entities, including 25 percent to the state Department of Education, 2 percent to the town of Oxford, and 1 percent to Oxford County.
John Hawley, town manager of Mechanic Falls, said that while he expects growth and positive valuation to eventually help surrounding towns, the increased toll to fire departments, police departments and ambulance services “will begin on day one of the casino's operation.”
Oxford County will receive a portion of casino revenues, which will provide relief to taxpayers there. However, Poland and Mechanic Falls, which will see increased traffic once the casino on Route 26 opens, are in Androscoggin County and won't see any of that money.
Paris police Chief David Verrier said any additional burden to his department would be too much. “With the budgets as they are, we're at bare bones.”
A Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agent who works with the Paris police, thanks to a grant, is fighting a growing rise in pill addiction in the area, Verrier said. The grant expires in November, and agent Zane Loper would have to leave the department.
The department can't afford to hire a full-time officer to investigate drug cases, much less handle the increased traffic stops and police calls that come with more traffic through the area.
The meeting was called in hopes that local legislators might include local communities when the casino money is divvied up.
At the suggestion of Rep. Terry Hayes, town managers and legislators agreed to start a working group to observe how casinos have affected similar communities and get more concrete data on the potential impacts, which Hayes called “success problems.”
Black Bear Entertainment spokesman Peter Martin, who cautioned to “not get aggressive with us before we even open,” said he'd be open to participating in such a task force.
Martin said the casino won't open for another year. In that time, two referendums could allow casinos in Lewiston, Biddeford and Calais. If those casinos open, it could reduce revenues for Black Bear's planned resort.
He said a discussion on whether Black Bear might be able to alleviate initial pains from the casino “might have more credibility for us if the referendums were to fail” in November.
Sen. Dave Hastings of Fryeburg said altering the language of the referendum to change who receives money from casino revenues could lead to more efforts to do the same. So far, he said, legislators have accepted what voters approved in the November referendum.
“Once this opens up and the Legislature starts to feel comfortable that it has the moral right to start reallocating casino and racino money, it's no longer a local issue,” Hastings said. “It's going to be perceived as, it's all fair game,” Hastings said.
After the meeting, Martin said he thought Hastings “hit the nail on the head.”
“Sometimes legislators just think these facilities are bottomless pits of free money,” he said. He credited the Maine Legislature with preserving the voters' intentions at Hollywood Slots and said he hopes they leave the Oxford County casino referendum relatively unscathed.
Maine Sen. Garrett Mason, Rep. Michael McClellan and Rep. Tom Windsor attended the meeting along with Hastings and Hayes.
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