March 25, 2008 11:53 pm
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The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. — Four Wyandotte County residents have sued to block construction of a casino near Kansas Speedway, arguing it would benefit improperly from public funding of development in the area.
Their lawsuit in state district court targets casino proposals from a company and two partnerships competing for a contract from the state to build and operate a casino. Three other casino proposals wouldn’t be affected.
The residents allege that if the state pursues a contract for a casino near the speedway, they would be forced to pay “illegal” taxes to support it. The speedway and retail development near it were financed partly with bonds issued by the state but are being paid off with sales-tax revenues generated by the development.
A state law enacted last year allowing a single casino each in Wyandotte County and three other locations specified that they couldn’t receive public funding. Whether a casino near the speedway violates the law was raised previously by Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group.
“These are Kansas City residents who are concerned that casino development not occur with the benefit of public financing,” Caleb Stegall, a Perry attorney representing them, said Tuesday.
The four — Mary Ann Flunder, Thomas Gordon, Domingo Soto and Calvin Vick — filed their lawsuit Monday in Shawnee County.
They’re suing the Kansas Lottery, the Lottery Commission, the Gaming Facility Review Board and the Racing and Gaming Commission. The Lottery negotiates potential contracts with developers; the Lottery Commission approves such contracts; the review board picks the developer; and the Racing and Gaming Commission does a background check.
Americans for Prosperity provided a “nominal” amount of financial support for the lawsuit, said the group’s state director, Alan Cobb, but the Kansas City, Kan. residents are not part of the group.
“We raised the issue because of our concerns about corporate welfare,” Cobb said. “We’re part of a coalition paying attention to it.”
All six Wyandotte County casino proposals filed with the Lottery have been endorsed by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan. Spokesman Mike Taylor said Cobb’s group is reading the law against public funding of casino projects too broadly.
“If you take that logic far enough, therefore, you could not build any casino anywhere in western Wyandotte County,” he said.
Mike Deines, a spokesman for the Racing and Gaming Commission, said the agency was reviewing the lawsuit. He declined to comment further.
Ed Van Petten, the Lottery’s executive director, defended that agency’s actions.
“Certainly, we believe what we have done thus far is proper,” he said.
The Lottery Commission has until May 27 to approve contracts with prospective developers. The review board would then have until July 28 to select a proposal.
Van Petten said that process will continue unless a judge intervenes. The four Wyandotte County residents want an injunction to prevent the state from making a contract with the three affected developers. No hearing has been set.
The lawsuit deals with proposals from Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., of Las Vegas; Legends Sun, a partnership of two companies and an American Indian tribe in Connecticut, and Kansas Entertainment, a partnership of Kansas Speedway and a Baltimore company.
Kansas Entertainment’s casino would be at the speedway, overlooking a turn on the racetrack. Legends Sun’s proposal calls for a complex near the Legends shopping district. Pinnacle’s complex would share a waterway and bridges with a nearby water park under development.
Not affected are proposals from Las Vegas Sands Corp., for a complex near The Woodlands dog and horse racing park; a second one from Sands for a casino in Edwardsville; and a proposal from Golden Gaming Inc., of Las Vegas, for a casino complex on a site split between the cities of Edwardsville and Bonner Springs.
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