In less than a month, Maine voters will consider a measure that some say would preserve the state’s harness racing tradition and pump millions into the economy, but that others oppose on moral grounds and because of the social and economic costs.

Question 2 on the Nov. 4 statewide ballot asks voters whether to allow slot machines to be installed at the state’s commercial harness racing tracks, namely Bangor Raceway and Scarborough Downs.

The gambling question comes before voters by way of a citizens initiative drive led by Best Bet for Maine, a political action committee financed by Capital Seven LLC, one of dozens of limited-liability corporations owned by Nevada entrepreneur Shawn Scott.

Capital Seven has proposed using profits from the slot machines to help pay for developing a $30 million entertainment complex, including hotel, conference facility and restaurant, at Bass Park. Owned by the city of Bangor, the park is home to Bangor Raceway, the Bangor Auditorium and the Civic Center.

Capital Seven now owns 49 percent of Bangor Historic Track, which operates the raceway. Capital Seven representatives approached Bangor city officials last fall with plans to develop what’s called a “racino,” industry jargon for a racetrack combined with casinolike slot parlors and year-round entertainment.

The proposed law that would permit the slot machines requires both local and state approval. Bangor voters already approved the measure in June.

The proposal does not specify how many slot machines would be allowed or the hours of play, but the Maine Harness Racing Commission will be responsible for regulating the gambling activities if the measure is approved by statewide ballot. Scott has told city officials he plans to install up to 1,500 machines.

The licensed operator would get 75 percent of the gross income – the income after winnings are paid out to players – from the slots, while the state would get 25 percent. Funding to the state would be divvied up as follows: 10 percent to help the elderly and disabled pay for prescription drugs; 7 percent to the Maine Harness Racing Commission to supplement harness racing purses; 3 percent to state programs in support of agricultural fairs; 2 percent to the University of Maine Scholarship Fund; 1 percent for Maine Community College System scholarships; 1 percent to the racing commission’s Sire Stakes Fund; and 1 percent for administrative expenses, including costs connected with programs dealing with gambling addictions.

In January, the city granted Capital Seven tentative developer status, or exclusive negotiating rights, for Bass Park. Despite a May 1 deadline to hammer out a mutually acceptable development deal, negotiations continue.

Keep Bangor on Track, another political action committee financed by Scott, spent almost $95,000 on getting the June citywide referendum passed in Bangor, according to the latest campaign finance report filed in July with the city clerk’s office. The report listed another $54,000 in outstanding debt to its then campaign strategist, Pierce-Atwood Consulting of Portland.

During a meeting of the Bangor City Council’s strategic issues committee on Monday, officials said they expected to have an agreement in hand to consider at their Oct. 15 meeting.

The deal so far calls for Bangor to receive between 3 percent and 6 percent of the slots income, based on a sliding scale, with a minimum payment of $1 million per year. One estimate has the racino making about $75.3 million per year. The city also would receive rent and property taxes for improvements at Bass Park.

A recent development, however, has been shifting the focus of Capital Seven’s project back and forth across the Penobscot River.

Capital Seven has been involved in discussions with the adjacent city of Brewer, where Capital Seven has bought an option on an alternate site for the racino on outer Wilson Street. The developer plans to use that site if its deal with Bangor falls through. At Capital Seven’s request, Brewer city councilors agreed to put a referendum question on their Nov. 4 ballot seeking local approval for slot machines.

Also on Nov. 4, local approval will be requested of voters in Scarborough, home to Maine’s only other commercial racetrack.

While a recent statewide poll by Portland-based Critical Insights showed Mainers about evenly divided over a tribal casino proposal – Question 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot – it showed the slot machine proposal enjoying a comfortable lead with 63 percent of those surveyed in favor and only 35 percent against.

To Amy Fried, associate political science professor at the University of Maine, the spread suggests that at least some voters are making a distinction between the racino and the much larger casino plan.

This may be because of the agricultural aspect the casino lacks and because the slots would be limited to existing commercial raceways, which already offer parimutuel wagering, Fried speculated this week.

As racino supporters see it, adding slots to Maine’s harness- racing tracks will bolster the declining sport of harness racing by attracting new fans and generating new income for the industry, which supports 2,000 Maine jobs and pumped an estimated $50 million into the state economy in 2000, according to a state task force.

An economic impact study by the University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy estimates that the proposed Bangor racino could generate as much as $75.3 million in annual revenue and an additional $95.6 million in local sales revenues.

Other economic benefits cited in the report include the creation of 314 on-site jobs, most of them full-time, with a projected annual payroll of $5.3 million. More than 500 full- and part-time jobs also would be created during the construction and renovation that would take place through 2006.

Opponents, however, counter that the economic report does not take into account the effect of the racino on public services or the social costs associated with potential increases in crime and gambling addictions.

Detractors also say the report assumes there will be no significant competition from any other gaming facilities in the region.

While there is no such competition at the moment, state legislators did pass a bill in June that would allow slot machines at the state’s five off-track betting facilities, including Miller’s Restaurant located less than a mile from Bangor Raceway. Since it was passed by the Legislature, the measure doesn’t need voter approval, but it has not yet been signed by the governor.

Under that bill, OTB owners could install up to 200 slot machines at each of their facilities. They would keep the bulk of the profit but would return 13 percent to the harness racing industry to beef up purses and breeding programs. The state’s agricultural fairs would get 4 percent of the proceeds, 1 percent would go toward programs for addicted gamblers, and another 5 percent would be split between the commercial tracks in Bangor and Scarborough, based on the number of race days at each track. The state would get 28 percent, estimated at $62 million a year by supporters.

Gov. John Baldacci, who opposes any expansion of gambling, has threatened to veto the bill but is waiting until after the election to make a final decision.

Racino supporters include Maine horsemen, such as Bill Varney of Bangor, whose horses race in Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Canada. When the Smith Center economic report was released in late May, he said the boost that slot machines would give to racetracks would increase the prize money awarded to race winners, which in turn would help those involved in harness racing “make a decent living.”

The Christian Civic League and its political action committee, the Christian Action League, are at the forefront of an effort to defeat both the tribal and the racetrack gaming proposals.

“I see them as equal threats to the people of Maine,” Executive Director Michael Heath said Wednesday. The Augusta-based conservative group has launched a monthlong, statewide campaign called “Think Again” (an apparent play on words regarding the multimillion-dollar pro-casino “Think About It” campaign).

The league’s political arm, Heath said, has raised $10,000 for the battle, though the league also is contributing. “We’re inviting people to give,” he said.

In contrast, Best Bet for Maine, a political action committee financed by one of Scott’s Las Vegas-based companies, indicated $364,830 had been raised and spent through Sept. 30, according to the latest records filed on Friday with Secretary of State’s Office. The campaign finance report also listed an additional $27,429 in in-kind contributions.

Since the June local election, Capital Seven has tapped Campaign Strategies Inc. of Houston, Texas, to lead its push for statewide approval. Attempts to reach Campaign Strategies owner Dan McClung this week were unsuccessful.

The Christian Civic League opposes legalizing slot machines because the organization believes they would lead to higher crime rates, increased bankruptcies and more gambling addictions. The league says Mainers also would end up paying more for law enforcement and social service programs, added costs that could outweigh the state’s share of any proceeds.

If Maine opens the door to the racetrack and tribal gaming operations, Heath warns, it will be hard-pressed to prevent other gambling operations from setting up shop here.

As far as economics go, he said, the League believes casinos will harm local businesses by capturing dollars that otherwise would be spent on local goods.

Another concern is that the gaming industry could become a powerful lobby able to influence public policy in areas unrelated to gaming.

“Maine needs to reject [Questions 2 and 3] by a large margin,” he said.

Casinos No! also opposes both ballot questions.

Spokesman Dennis Bailey said that the real aim of tribal casino and racino backers “is to bring big-time casino gambling to Maine to make their Las Vegas owners and operators rich at the expense of Maine and its people, and the arguments being used to support casinos – helping the sport of harness racing, lowering taxes, solving the state’s budget problems, et cetera – are phony.”

Next month won’t be the first time Mainers have been asked to approve slot machines for the state’s commercial harness racing tracks. A similar referendum question was defeated in 2000.

That proposal, however, would not have permitted slots at Bangor Raceway because only tracks with 100 or more race days a year would have been eligible and only Scarborough Downs fit that bill. In addition, that bill would have prohibited slot parlors from existing within a 150-mile radius of each other. The two tracks are 137 miles apart.

Question 2

(Citizen Initiative)

“Do you want to allow slot machines at certain

commercial horse racing tracks if part of the proceeds are used to lower prescription drug costs for the elderly and disabled, and for scholarships to the state universities and technical colleges?”