A bill passed this year by the State Legislature means that a Panther Lake-area casino will be able to remain open if its part of unincorporated King County is annexed into Kent next year.
Because state law requires cities to take an all-or-nothing stance on non-tribal casinos, the Great American Casino would have faced the possibility of having to shut its doors if the business became annexed into Kent. The city does not allow casinos.
“They (city officials) said they didn’t have a problem with us, but it opens the door,” said Shannon McClure, general manager for Great American Casino.
The new bill, however, allows a city to grandfather in a casino in an area being annexed without having to allow other casinos in the city.
“By changing this it allows them to stay open,” said State Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-Normandy Park), who supported the change, which was added to a bill regarding annexation funding and tax collection.
“They don’t feel the downtown core is an appropriate spot (for a casino) so they are not inclined to have a new gaming establishment,” Upthegrove said, adding that he has been in discussion with members of the Kent City Council, whom he said wanted to allow the Great American Casino to remain open.
If Panther Lake residents vote Nov. 3 to join the city, the annexation would become effective July 1, 2010.
The new law allows McClure and the other employees of the casino to breathe a little easier.
“I have 137 employees,” McClure said. “They get to keep their jobs.”
“In this economy, it’s actual jobs,” Upthegrove echoed.
But along with the jobs, the casino staying open means if the area is annexed, the city will be able to collect the tax money from the business.
According to the city’s finance director, Bob Nachlinger, the Great American Casino paid $639,000 in gambling tax money to the county in 2008. If annexed, that money would come to the city of Kent’s coffers.
The money would help the city in difficult times, but also go toward extending services into the area, which Nachlinger said was 95 percent residential.
In addition to the change allowing a city to grandfather in an existing casino, the new law also allows the city to use up to 0.2 percent of the money collected in state sales tax within the area and city as a means to pay for extending services to the annexed area.
“It could be as much as $5.5 million,” Nachlinger said, adding that the money is needed because “typically, annexations don’t generate enough money to pay for the services.”
According to McClure, the Great American Casino in Kent is the smallest casino of the four in Washington owned by the company. The 5,400-square-foot casino features 14 table card games, but no slots or dice games.
McClure said she was happy the casino would be allowed to stay open and added that she was pleased the tax money would stay in Kent.
“We’re just looking forward to it,” she said of the November annexation vote. “I’d like for all (the tax money) to be going to the city we’re in.”
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