Fighting over crumbs

McKean Township supervisors to vote on gambling settlement tonight

McKean Township supervisors are expected to sign off tonight on a settlement that will end the legal wrangling over millions of dollars in gambling revenue from Presque Isle Downs & Casino.

The supervisors meet at 7:30 p.m. at the McKean Township Building, 9231 Edinboro Road, Supervisor Jan Dennis said. Dennis said she is confident the settlement will be approved; McKean Township is the last municipality involved to vote on the agreement.

The legal fight dealt with how the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, which evaluates requests for restricted funds, handled grant requests for a portion of the roughly $12 million in gambling revenues that Erie County government receives each year from Presque Isle Downs.

The Gaming Revenue Authority has also approved the settlement.

McKean Township would receive $333,000 in gambling revenue collected from the casino in 2008 and 2009 as part of the deal, as well as $165,000 in annual gambling revenue in years ahead.

Erie County government, as well as Millcreek, Greene and Waterford townships, have already approved the settlement, and the settlement stipulates they would receive those same amounts.

Summit, as the casino's host municipality, will see the biggest financial windfall from the settlement -- about $1.36 million from the more than $12 million in gambling revenue Erie County received from the casino in 2008 and 2009, as well as an estimated $675,000 annually in future years.