The voters of Washington County, Florida turned out in masses on Jan 31st to vote on allowing slot machines at the Ebro Dog Track in a planned 300 million dollar expansion. 57% of the voters that turned out approved the referendum to allow slots only at this facility.
There remains however a very tough battle to get the State of Florida to grant a license for the slot machines.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has issued an opinion saying state law only allows referendums on slot machines in two south Florida counties, and said that the state will not grant slot licenses. Gov. Rick Scott said he plans to follow Bondi's opinion. I also understand that the head of the DBPR (Department of Business and Professional Licenses) has stated that he will also follow the opinion of the Attorney General.
The owners of the Ebro Dog Track have said that in the opinion of their attorney's, the dog track does have legal standing to apply for, and be granted the license.
The addition of slot machines to the dog track is part of a proposed $300 million expansion that would include 300-500 hotel rooms, restaurants, retail stores and an entertainment venue. The park has housed greyhound racing since 1955 and added a poker room in 1997.
At build out, which is projected to be 3-5 years, the track anticipates adding at least 1500 jobs to the local facility and generating an estimated 2 million dollar additional tax revenue. The owners of the track have assured the Washington County officials that a lot of this tax money will be designated for the improvement of Fire and Emergency Services.
This was a very hotly debated issue locally, both morally and economically. As I stated in my support of the issue, regardless of how you may feel about the question of gambling, we cannot afford to pass up the opportunity to create jobs.
I will be watching with great interest how this all plays out with the State of Florida.
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