Residents of Franklin County will vote on three statewide questions and a local one next week, when polls open on Nov. 2.
Question 1 is a citizen initiative, regarding a gaming establishment proposal in Oxford County. The question reads:
“Do you want to allow a casino with table games and slot machines at a single site in Oxford County,
subject to local approval, with part of the profits going to specific state, local and tribal programs?”
If approved by voters across the state, Question 1 would implement “An Act to Allow a Casino in Oxford County,” a roughly 13-page law that instructs the Gambling Control Board to authorize a gaming facility in Oxford County. Unlike Hollywood Slots & Raceway in Bangor, the Oxford County casino would allow “table games;” cards, dice, roulette, as well as slot machines.
Black Bear Entertainment LLC has proposed a $165 million casino resort in Oxford.
The law would also amend the Maine statutes which oversee amusements and sports, to create a process in which new casino licenses would be granted. Among the changes would be a requirement that new casinos or slot machine facilities not be opened within 100 miles of existing casinos. Licenses would not be issued until the applying project passed a statewide referendum vote, in addition to meeting local standards.
Out of the net profits of the facility’s slot machines and table games, the Gambling Control Board would take 46 percent and 16 percent, respectively, for distribution to a number of state programs and funds. Most significantly, 25 percent of slot machine profit and 10 percent of table game profit would be used to supplement the Department of Education’s funding of K-12 essential programs and services. Other captured revenue would go into scholarship programs, support the tribal governments of the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe, agriculture support funds and whatever community ends up hosting the casino. The Gambling Control Board would receive money to fund administrative costs and counseling services for gambling addiction.
Generally speaking, supporters of Question 1 see it as an opportunity to create jobs, draw tourists to Maine, provide funds for education and state programs, and therefore reduce taxes. Those in opposition believe that a casino will increase crime and is generally undesirable in Maine. Some have expressed concern with some of the changes to state law, such as the 100-mile buffer provision.
In support of Question 1 is the group Maine Taxpayers Taking Charge, among others.
In opposition to Question 1 is the group CasinoNo!, among others, which has opposed previous attempts to create gaming establishments.
Question 2 is a bond issue, regarding dental clinics. The question reads:
“Do you favor a $5,000,000 bond issue to be awarded on a competitive basis to increase access to
dental care in Maine, $3,500,000 to be used for a community-based teaching dental clinic affiliated
with or operated by a college of dental medicine to be matched by $3,500,000 in other funds, and
$1,500,000 to be used to create or upgrade community-based health and dental care clinics across
the State to increase their capacity as teaching and dental clinics?”
If the question is approved, the state treasurer’s office would borrow $5 million through a 10-year bond, for the purpose of creating a community-based dental care clinic, which would be operated by a dental medicine college. Of the $5 million, $3.5 million would be used for that purpose, and would need to be matched with other funds in order to be expended. The remaining $1.5 million of the bond would be used to create or upgrade health and dental care clinics across the state. The funds would be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Office of the Treasurer has estimated that the total cost of the bond would be $6,237,500, accounting for a 4.5 percent interest rate over 10 years.
Question 3 is a bond issue, regarding land conservation. The question reads:
“Do you favor a $9,750,000 bond issue to invest in land conservation and working waterfront
preservation and to preserve state parks to be matched by $9,250,000 in federal and other funds?”
If the question is approved, the state would borrow $9.25 million through a 10-year bond. Most of those funds, $6.5 million, would go toward the acquisition of land or the acquisition of interest in land, for the purposes of conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife habitat. $1,750,000 would be used for waterfront preservation. Another $1 million would be used for the preservation of working farmland, which would leverage $1 million in other funds. This money would be administered by the Land for Maine’s Future.
The remaining $500,000 raised by the bond would be administered by the Department of Conservation, for use in state parks and property.
The Office of the Treasurer has estimated that the total cost of the bond would be $12,163,125, accounting for a 4.5 percent interest rate over 10 years.
There is also a local question, for residents of Franklin County towns only. It asks voters if they want to have the county borrow $4.465 million to fund a series of renovations and improvements to county facilities. The question reads:
“Shall the County issue General Obligation Bonds in a principal amount not to exceed Four Million Four Hundred Sixty Five Thousand Dollars ($4,465,000) to finance two public improvement projects consisting of the purchase and renovation of Church Street Commons located in Farmington, and the construction of an addition to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office also located in Farmington, including design work, transaction costs and all other expenses reasonably related thereto?”
The $4.465 million would be used to fund the purchase of property near the courthouse, allowing for some county functions to be shifted out of that aging facility. Planners, who have been working on the project since a building study was conducted two years ago, are attempting to address a number of issues with existing work spaces, including safety, overcrowding and high maintenance costs.
The most significant part of the plan, financially, would be the purchase of Church Street Commons, and the shifting of several county functions into the former print shop and automobile showroom. The plan also encompasses some relatively modest adjustments to the courthouse building itself, moving the District Attorney’s Office and related personnel out of the basement and onto the main floor, as well as a roughly 1,800 square foot expansion of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department office on the jail site in the Fairbanks section of Farmington.
The question which will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot will ask voters to approve the bonding of the $4,465,000 project at a rate of 2.8 percent. Paying an average of $294,000 annually for 20 years, the building committee has estimated that a Franklin County taxpayer would see an annual increase of $6.60 per $100,000 of property value, if the project is approved. The committee is hoping to move ahead quickly, as the 2.8 percent interest rate is contingent on federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding that will likely not be available next year.
More information about the concerns of county employees, specific plans for the county’s facilities and overall scope of the project can be found here.
