From the Bcct:
Borough seeks $200,000 in casino funds
By: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE
Officials say Morrisville should get the funds because New Jersey commuters drive through the borough to get to Parx.
Morrisville officials hope to get a portion of this year's approximately $3.8 million in gaming revenue grants from Parx Casino.
They sent a letter to the Bucks County commissioners asking for $200,000 of that funding. If the commissioners agree, then Morrisville must submit an application to the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority, the agency in charge of distributing the funds.
The commissioners and authority set precedent in 2008 when they agreed to give Bristol $350,000 for police and fire building renovations even though the borough doesn't border Bensalem, the casino's host community, as required by state law. But in 2009, the authority denied Upper Southampton's request for $554,093 in casino gaming revenue to use for rebuilding Stump Road. That same year, the authority also denied a request from Penndel because its application was submitted 15 minutes late.
Morrisville would like to use the requested money in the following manner: $30,000 to purchase a police car, $70,000 for a street sweeper, $70,000 for the purchase and installation of 50 LED street lights along Bridge Street, Trenton Avenue and the south portion of Pennsylvania Avenue. In addition, $25,000 would be used for four preemptive devices on traffic signals on Trenton and Pennsylvania avenues that enable emergency vehicles to control them, and $5,000 for seven preemptive devices in police cars to operate the signals.
During discussion at the Morrisville meeting this week, Councilman David Rivella said the borough should be given a portion of gaming money from Parx in future years without the borough going through an application process even though the town isn't contiguous to the casino.
Why? Because New Jersey commuters drive through Morrisville to get to Parx, officials argue.
Last year's share of gaming money was $2.6 million in Bucks. The municipalities eligible to receive a portion of the county money each year are host Bensalem and the bordering towns of Lower Southampton, Middletown, Hulmeville and Bristol Township. Any other towns need the approval of the county commissioners. In addition, Bensalem automatically gets $10 million a year in gaming money as the host community.
Rivella said that New Jersey residents use three bridges to cross into Pennsylvania, all of which lead into the 1.5-square-mile borough.
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission oversees the three bridges - the Calhoun Street Bridge on Trenton Avenue, the Lower Trenton Toll-Supported Bridge on Bridge Street and the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge on Route 1.
Bob White, executive director of the authority, said Rivella's argument is a long stretch. Bridge Street and Route 1 are state roads, so Morrisville isn't responsible for their maintenance anyway, said White.
"Then we'll have Philadelphia asking us for money because people are using I-95 to get to the casino," he said.
Casino gaming money shared with communities must be used for projects such as road maintenance and public safety, according to state law.
White added that when state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, was working on the law, he addressed the concerns of the abutting municipalities, and "no one else stepped to the plate to raise concerns."
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Tomlinson for comment Thursday because he was on vacation.
However, state Rep. John Galloway, D-140, said the whole process of distributing the cash needs to be reviewed. Instead of the county commissioners deciding where the money goes "like Santa Claus," the process should be administered by the state in a "fair, open and competitive process."
For that to happen, state lawmakers would need to change the law that apportions gaming revenue sharing to county government and towns that border the casino's host community.
