PORT COMMISSIONER: SCOTT CITY MAYOR STYMYING GAMBLING BOAT EFFORT

SCOTT CITY -- A longtime Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority commissioner charged Friday that efforts to put a gambling boat at the port are being stymied by Scott City Mayor Larry Forhan.

Morty Potashnick of Sikeston, a member of the port's gaming committee, said the mayor has not cooperated in efforts to have Scott City annex a part of the port where a boat could be put. That would enable a local option election on riverboat gambling to be held within the city of Scott City rather than countywide.

Casino Magic has an option to lease land at the port authority for a gaming development, but voters in a county or city must approve a local option before a license can be sought.

"The idea of the port cooperating with the city of Scott City on a gaming boat is apparently a dead issue, it seems to me, because the mayor of Scott City has broken with the tradition of maintaining a great cooperative relationship between the port and Scott City," Potashnick said.

"The idea that some small part of the port could be annexed -- therefore allowing a gaming boat to be put there, providing Scott City passed it in an election -- is unlikely simply because the present mayor is very uncooperative with the port authority," said Potashnick. "That breaks with the long-standing tradition of the port authority and Scott City being great friends and allies in the overall concept of building industry for our area."

Forhan denied being uncooperative. He said he has never talked to Potashnick and the port authority has never formally contacted him.

"Directly between the port board and myself, there has been no formal contact," said Forhan.

From discussions with various sources, it is apparent there are at least three areas of conflict between the mayor and the port authority as it relates to the issue of riverboat gambling.

Among the conflicts:

-- Who would receive the direct tax revenue from a gambling boat. That includes a 2 percent gross-receipts tax on gaming receipts and a $1 per person boarding fee. The port authority board is on record that most of that revenue should go to the port for capital improvements, with the entity that approves riverboat gambling receiving only a portion of it to recover some of its costs associated with having a boat in the area. The city and county would receive additional revenue from increased property taxes and sales taxes generated as economic benefits from the boat.

-- The extent of control that Scott City would have over the port authority and its development if a portion of it were annexed. Port officials maintain the port board needs to retain autonomy as a separate entity. That it now has.

-- No assurances have been made by Forhan and the city that if Scott City passed riverboat gambling it would select Casino Magic as its choice for a license from the Missouri Gaming Commission. State law makes it difficult for a boat to be licensed without the support of the entity that has approved the local option. Under its agreement with the Scott County Commission to put the measure on the ballot last fall, the commission agreed it would support Casino Magic for a license, which would enable the port authority to exercise its lease agreement.

Potashnick said he cannot understand why Forhan is not more willing to work with the port authority. He contends Scott City's only real chance of reaping direct benefits is by aligning with the port.

Said Potashnick: "He has taken the authoritarian high road that the port should belong to the city of Scott City, and of course that will never happen. He is being shortsighted when he thinks he can make this happen with just Scott City."

Potashnick said the port authority needs additional revenue to pay for capital improvements that will attract other industry, and sees having a lease with Casino Magic as providing an opportunity to earn that revenue.

"The potential revenue of that boat is what is driving us," said Potashnick. "We have spent our sales tax money on improvements and had to borrow money from the two counties for projects we have going on right now. The kind of revenue we would have coming in from a boat is the only way to have the kind of money we need for development of that port."

"If Scott City gets a boat in the city limits of Scott City, it will get the full revenue," said Forhan. He said a gambling development would put increased costs on the city to provide security, water, sewers, and better streets. "It would only make sense that you have to have the full amount of money. Scott City has no other sources of revenue," Forhan said.

During last fall's campaign, Casino Magic projected $2 million in additional revenue for Scott County from direct taxes from the boat. If Scott City approved gambling, that amount would go to the city, which has an annual general revenue budget of about $750,000 and a total budget of $1.2 million with debt retirement figured in.

Forhan took issue with a contention that $2 million of new revenue would give his city a huge windfall. The mayor said part of the new money would go to reduce property taxes; the rest would be needed to provide additional services required by the gambling boat and to upgrade streets, buy better equipment and improve services.

Potashnick said the Cape and Scott county commissions and the port commissioners all agree that most of the revenue from a boat at the port should go toward developing the port authority.

"We are all in accord on this; Mr. Forhan is out of step," Potashnick said.

Forhan said most of what he knows about the port's interest in working with Scott City to have a boat is what he read in last Wednesday's Southeast Missourian. The article quoted Scott County Presiding Commissioner Durward Dover and Cape County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep about different impressions they have of whether the port could be annexed by Scott City without the approval of the county commissions.

Huckstep contends the commissions would have to give approval first. He said he does not want to see the port annexed by any city. Huckstep, who is skeptical about the merits of having a gambling boat at the port, said the only way he would consider annexation is if that were the only way to bring about other industrial development at the port. He also argued that most of the revenue generated should go to the port.

Said Forhan: "I strongly disagree with his comments and see it as a slap in the face to the citizens of Scott City and north Scott County for a person with his prestige and power to suggest we are worthless and need no opportunities to get ahead. Our people in Scott City and north Scott County shop in Cape Girardeau and Cape County; they ought to be best friends with us down here."