Penn National takes a flier in Cecil

County leaders torn between new jobs and social pitfalls

If voters approve the November referendum, the company hopes to obtain one of the permits to operate a slot machine center at the pit, which is off Interstate 95 near the Delaware and Pennsylvania borders.

Penn National officials said they want to be ready so they can develop a $125 million slot machine center in Perryville.

‘‘I don’t understand the economics, because they’re putting a heck of a lot of work in like it’s going to be a done deal,” said William C. Manlove, president of the Cecil County Board of Commissioners. ‘‘They say they want to be ready once it goes through.”

In many ways, Cecil County is representative of the issues the state is facing as it awaits voters’ decision on slots: It needs the additional money slots could bring in. But projections about the economic value of the slots center in Cecil County vary widely from 500 to 1,000 new jobs, just as revenue projections for the state range from $300 million to $800 million a year.

Manlove (D-Dist. 1) said he has ‘‘mixed emotions” about Penn National’s announcement.

‘‘I was opposed to slots coming into the county, but I’m not going to run again,” he said. ‘‘We do need another source of revenue [as a county] because we’re about tapped out. I’ve got the feeling the state’s already decided it’s going to come here anyhow, so we better work to get all we can out of it.”

While Manlove said he still is not sold on the idea of slots, he does know the county needs more money, as the county’s state delegation to Annapolis has refused to introduce legislation for impact fees or other revenue sources.

‘‘I don’t think gambling is the answer, but it is another source of revenue, and I’ve got very mixed emotions,” he said.

The land Penn National has optioned is part of a 120-acre development. The county would see increased revenue in the form of property taxes going up considerably on the land once it is developed as a slots center and surrounding businesses, Manlove said.

The county has faced a deficit as the increased demand for services from a growing population has run into opposition to higher property taxes to pay for them, Manlove said.

‘‘If they spend $100 million down there, the value of that property is going to go way higher than as a gravel pit,” he said.

The Perryville location was ‘‘ideal” for a slots center with its proximity to Philadelphia and Baltimore, Penn National CEO Peter M. Carlino said in a statement.

‘‘We intend to support Maryland’s November slot machine referendum both financially and by educating voters on the potential economic benefits of new development in the state as we are committed to building distinctive entertainment centers that create jobs, tax revenues and other sustainable economic benefits for the regions where we operate,” he said.

Many in the rural county of 100,000 at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay are religious, and Manlove said he expects church leaders will try to rally opposition to the slot machine referendum. But that opposition might not be that strong.

‘‘The church people are very much against it, but I kind of think it’ll pass this time,” Manlove said. ‘‘Some of the church people who are very adamantly against it have been known to pull a lever at the American Legion or Delaware Park, and when they get into a voting booth, you don’t know what they’ll do. They may talk one thing and do something else.”

A slot machine center would be good for the county’s businesses, but how much is still to be seen, said Cecil County Economic Development Director Vernon Thompson.

‘‘Right now, it’s very speculative whether the referendum passes,” he said.

Estimates show from 500 to 1,000 jobs being created as a result of a slots center, Thompson said.

‘‘In general, I think people here are in favor of gaming,” he said. ‘‘We’re used to Delaware and Delaware Park. We’re used to seeing the revenue go across the line. Why have them go across the line when we can have them stop here?”

Cecil County’s growth is inevitable, with the expansion of Aberdeen Proving Ground, and with Newcastle County, Delaware’s 500,000 population and Harford County’s 250,000 population on its borders, Thompson said.

‘‘The county could use the additional revenues,” he said.

Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr. (R-Dist. 36) of Elkton said he remains ‘‘adamantly” opposed to the way the state decided where slot machines would be even if they would benefit his county.

‘‘The whole process has been corrupted,” he said. ‘‘It shouldn’t have been done behind closed doors on how the places were selected.”

Looking at a map, he said, he agrees the I-95 corridor makes the most sense for a location.

‘‘But no one likes having it forced on them,” Smigiel said. ‘‘I think the people of Cecil County will vote against it. And overwhelmingly.”

Slot machine gaming already is taking a hit nationally and regionally because of the downturn in the economy, from ‘‘high taxes to high gasoline prices,” he said. ‘‘You only have so much discretionary income.

‘‘The pie, even if it is a pie, has been sliced too thin because there are too many others around us offering gambling,” Smigiel said.