Track Owners Vying for Slot Machines on Ballot

There is a group that is hoping to get slot machines on the 2008 ballot, and they are pretty confident that if they do – it will pass. The group is headed up by Dan Adkins, who is VP of Tyner and Hartman Inc. of Southfield. His group has racetracks in Hazel Park, as well as Florida and West Virginia. He says that by allowing slot machines at the racetracks, the state could be looking at more than $400 million annually.

One person very vocal in his approval of the slot machines is Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson who is behind is 100%. He says that adding slot machines to just the tracks would be the best thing they could do. He also says that out of all of the ways he can think of to raise money for the projects the county has planned; legalizing slot machines is undoubtedly the best way to do that.

Patterson thinks that the Detroit and Indian casinos will get together to try and fight the bill, since it would be taking money out of their pockets. He says they spent more than $20 million fighting to get Proposal 1 passed, so they would definitely pull out the stops to make sure that slot machines do not come to the tracks.

Proposal 1 says that any new gambling, except for the Detroit and Indian casinos, would have to be approved by a statewide vote, as well as the communities that the slot machines would go into. Patterson says it is really quite simple, either they approve the slot machines or they have to raise taxes. He says that when it becomes clear to the voters what their choice is, they will vote to legalize the slot machines.

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