Over rockfish and baked chicken, 75 people celebrated another $20 million for one tiny corner of Anne Arundel County.
Everyone in the Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland ballroom knew who was getting what: money for a new fire station, community college job training, at-risk youth programs and a shuttle bus connecting casino workers with nearby rail stations.
Still, a free lunch and a big check are always nice.
“I want to send a big congratulations to all the recipients today,” said Christopher Maruyama, projects officer at Arundel Community Development Services. “The work that you do greatly impacts the community and makes a difference.”
It’s been 14 years since this money started flowing into Anne Arundel, one of the six jurisdictions that have shared $1 billion of Maryland casino tax revenues.
The county has spent its $387 million share on fire and police protection, schools, social services and libraries — all within a 3-mile radius of Live!
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Now there’s growing acknowledgment that change is coming. Next year, when recipients gather for big checks again, how the money gets distributed could be vastly different.
“We’ve invested a lot in that main area,” County Council Chair Julie Hummer said. “At this point, we’re going to have to gold plate the toilets at the fire station. We’ve run out of things to invest in.”
Members of the Local Development Council, which recommends how county government should allocate its money each year, have been discussing a change since Hummer raised the idea in March.
As the crowd applauded the awards Wednesday, County Executive Steuart Pittman added his voice to the idea, saying he supports expanding the circle for casino money.
“I’ve heard those conversations and, me personally, I support the change,” he said.
How this works might not just be a question for Anne Arundel.
Maryland lawmakers set this up in 2012 when they created rules for casinos, collecting a 41% tax on video slots and table game revenues.
The state has since added a sixth casino in Prince George’s County, legalized online betting and put education dollars in a “lockbox.” But the basic formula remains.
Casino taxes have pumped $7 billion into the Education Trust Fund, the biggest single share.
Horse racing, minority- and women-owned businesses and the Maryland Gaming Commission split another $1.3 billion. That money will finance the state’s purchase of Pimlico and Laurel Park.
The $1 billion for local governments was intended to pay for expanding public services and the disruption a casino causes as a neighbor.
Only Anne Arundel, though, uses all its money to fund what it calls competitive grants. Like others, it interprets state law to limit those to a tight circle around the casino.
Except the grants aren’t competitive.
County data shows 75% of the money has gone back to the county for fire and police services, plus road maintenance.
Casino taxes this year will help pay to replace the 50-year-old fire station in Jessup, one of three in the circle, and a new fire engine.
“In our station study done about 10 years ago, it’s listed as the worst-quality station that we have right now,” county Fire Chief Trisha Wolford said as lunch began. “So it’s really gone to long-standing infrastructure and long-standing equipment [needs].”
Another 20% is split yearly among institutional groups such as Anne Arundel Community College and the BWI Community Development Foundation. The college runs a hospitality job-training program next to the casino, and the foundation runs the employee shuttle.
Millions more go to nonprofits providing hunger relief, homelessness programs, help for the elderly and other social services. Still smaller grants go to neighborhood projects that this year include condo roof replacements.
The only real variation is big capital projects, such as the $16 million Severn Center. Casino grants paid for about a quarter of the project, opened three years ago as a community hub.
All of this has happened in an area county government historically ignored, with a high concentration of low-income families.
“The LDC over time has continued to see needs within that area,” said Karen McJunkin, outgoing chair of the Local Development Council.
During her tenure, members have discussed expanding grants to other parts of the county. How far the idea goes could depend on the next chair.
Pittman, who leaves office in December, is expected to appoint someone before the Sept. 26 council meeting.
Hummer proposed one change. Grants funded numerous programs and physical improvements at Meade High School, many of them targeting at-risk students.
Why not, she asked, extend the money to elementary and middle schools that feed into Meade and the communities where its students live?
“My pitch is extending the radius out farther,” Hummer said.
Others beyond the casino radius are ready for a change, too.
State Sen. Shaneka Henson, an Annapolis Democrat, plans to discuss it with General Assembly members representing the county.
“It’s long overdue,” she said.
Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, plus Baltimore City, home to Maryland’s biggest casinos, have split 90% of the $1 billion in local money. The rest goes to Cecil, Worcester and Allegany counties.
Baltimore gives half to the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, a nonprofit that spends it around Horseshoe Casino, and the rest to administration priorities.
Prince George’s County does something similar, funding education and other budget items. The rest goes to local townships around MGM National Harbor and small grants.
Only Live! Casino hosts an annual celebration of how its tax payments have helped surrounding communities.
Isolated neighborhoods, many historically Black enclaves, once dotted the area. Arundel Mills mall kicked off development in 2000, supercharged 12 years later by the casino next door.
There is still poverty, but Hanover, Harmans, Jessup and Severn have new town houses, retail and thousands of jobs.
All have benefited from those endless grants. They’ve all been invited for lunch.
Next year, the annual celebration might look very different.
“I don’t know which direction it’s going to head,” McJunkin said.
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