Duval County voters could have a high-stakes decision to make in November.
City Council member Aaron Bowman filed legislation Wednesday that would seek voter approval on bringing slot machines to Duval County.
The Florida Supreme Court is weighing a case that would impact Florida counties’ ability to allow slot machines in “eligible facilities” — those that have conducted live racing or poker games in a county for two consecutive years and have voter approval.
If both go the way Bowman hopes, it would mean the bestbet facility in Regency could add slots.
“I’m always interested in creating job and more revenue for the city, so we can take care of what we have,” Bowman said Wednesday. “Slot machines have been found to be a very successful endeavor.”
The proposal would provide the city 1.5 percent of the gross revenue generated by slot machine gaming.
Bowman said he knows financial impact studies have been done, but declined to say what the most recent figure he saw was.
Susie Wiles, who represents bestbet, said a study was underway to determine what the city could possibly expect from slot machine gaming, with results likely coming in the next several weeks.
As for the ballot initiative, Wiles said it was good for the city and company to let voters decide the issue.
Broward and Miami-Dade counties have slot machines, as do Seminole Tribe casinos in Coconut Creek, Immokalee, Brighton and Hollywood.
Bowman said he’d rather residents stay local to enjoy such gaming and it could pull in people from surrounding counties, too.
After the Legislature altered language on slot machine laws in 2009, Brevard, Gadsdsen, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach and Washington counties passed successful slot machine referenda.
“There certainly seems to be an appetite to do this,” Bowman said.
However, when Gretna Racing in Gadsden County filed for its application on slot machine gaming, the state denied it. That led to the case being reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court.
Bowman said he would find it hard to understand why Broward and Miami-Dade would be allowed slot machine exceptions but the other 65 counties were not.
Lobbyists for Howard Korman and his Jacksonville Kennel Club and Jacksonville Greyhound Racing Inc. businesses have approached council members in recent weeks about the bill.
Bowman said he has never met Korman, but there is a Jacksonville group helping with the issue.
Bowman received $2,500 in donations from Korman’s gambling-related businesses last year while running for election, according to campaign finance records.
Bowman admits the timing “isn’t good on this one” because the outcome of that court case hasn’t been decided, but said it could be by the time voters head to the polls.
If the issue wasn’t on the November ballot, he said, it would have been another two years before the issue could have been placed on a ballot.
It’s an issue he said he’s been considering for a few months, but held off until the city finalized an August date for voters to determine the fate of a crucial sales-tax extension to pay down pension liabilities.
“I would never do anything that would compete to get in the way of that,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that was behind us.”
However, extending gambling often can be a contentious issue.
Council President Greg Anderson said Wednesday night he hadn’t read the bill, but knew the issue was coming.
He said Wednesday he was still contemplating a way to move forward, but options could be letting it move through the normal council process or calling a committee-of-the-whole to discuss the issue.
He said his biggest concern was for all council members to educate themselves and have the opportunity to weigh in on the subject.
“They’re going to get questions from their neighbors, folks at church, everybody they meet,” said Anderson. “It’s important to me for them (council members) to understand the bill.”
The last committees-of-the-whole were set up to discuss adding protections to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in the city’s anti-discrimination code. Those meetings were cut short after the legislation was withdrawn.
Given the timing of the introduction, Anderson said he also wanted to meet with council Vice President Lori Boyer on the issue. She is expected to become council president starting July 1.
Bowman said he’d like to have the issue approved before then, but introduced it now to allow plenty of time for discussion. The deadline for council approval to put it on the November ballot is late August.
If the Supreme Court weighs in before then, it could make the entire effort moot.
Bowman is betting that won’t happen, though, and wants the city prepared if that’s the case.
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