Oct. 17--DALLAS TWP. -- Many municipalities are getting a bad deal when it comes to state gaming funds, Back Mountain Community Partnership members say.

They want to ensure their communities, which are not located near Plains Township, the site of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, have a fair share of the money, possibly based on population.

State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, and State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, came to this month's BMCP meeting to hear the concerns of its members firsthand.

"Instead of writing us a letter, they had an opportunity to lobby us directly," Baker said later.

Luzerne County municipalities get 1 percent of revenue generated by Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. Any of the county's 76 municipalities can submit an application for gaming funds for economic development or health and safety projects.

However, priority is given to Plains Township as the host municipality, then to neighboring municipalities including Bear Creek, Jenkins and Wilkes-Barre Townships, Wilkes-Barre City, and Forty Fort, Kingston, Laflin, Laurel Run and Wyoming boroughs.

After municipalities make their project pitches, the state Department of Community and Economic Development goes through an evaluation process to determine who gets what. Luzerne County is one of the only counties in the state where gaming fund requests go through DCED -- most have their own mechanisms for distributing the money, Baker said.

Last year, DCED received 72 requests totaling more than $83 million for projects, eventually awarding $11.55 million to 13 Luzerne County municipalities. Two projects in the Back Mountain were funded: Dallas Borough got $750,000 for Misericordia University and Kingston Township received $655,000 for The Lands at Hillside Farms.

BMCP members' complaint is that the gaming revenue doesn't directly lessen the burden on taxpayers in their municipalities.

"What I don't like about the way it's being done is nothing comes back to Jackson Township. Nothing comes back to Harveys Lake Borough," said BMCP Chairman Al Fox.

But residents travel to the casino on Back Mountain roads and use emergency services, he said. Fox suggested a system based on population or something similar.

State legislators are working on a law to allow table games, such as blackjack and poker, in casinos. Bills pending in the state Senate and House of Representatives differ on reforms to the system and ways revenue should be distributed.

The 183-page Senate Bill 1033, an amended version of SB 711, recently passed 29-20, Baker said. She said she voted against it; she opposes legalizing table games at this time for reasons including a lack of concrete legislation, the need to reform the existing law from 2004, and the allocation of additional funding for property tax relief.

Boback said she was not aware of the Senate bill. A bill in the state House calls for distributing 40 percent of the local share of slots revenue to Luzerne County's four third-class cities -- Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Pittston and Nanticoke -- based on population, 35 percent to contiguous municipalities on a competitive basis and 25 percent to noncontiguous communities on a competitive basis.

Boback said she doesn't like the bill: "It's upsetting to me, because I've got everything noncontiguous in my district."

In other business, the BMCP has received letters of interest from Harveys Lake Borough and Lake-Lehman school district officials. The board voted to notify Harveys Lake of the requirements to join. BMCP bylaws will have to be amended to allow school districts to participate, which the board is looking into.

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072

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