Patrick should rage for the machines

GOVERNOR-ELECT Deval Patrick won the hearts, minds, and votes of many municipal leaders and beleaguered homeowners when he promised to restore sinking local aid and provide some relief to soaring property taxes. Now, the challenge is to find the substantial funding necessary to make those promises a reality.

Patrick made friends in city and town halls across this state when he said he would forge a new partnership with cities and towns, put more police on local streets, and finally give Massachusetts all-day kindergarten. He won votes when he became the first gubernatorial candidate in years to understand that the burning issue in Massachusetts is not the pennies a week saved with state income tax cuts but the annual choice in towns little and large: Do I vote to lay off more teachers or pay more property taxes?

The problem is enormous: Across the state voters watch as varsity sports are canceled, art and music disappear from schools, municipal workers are laid off, and public safety suffers. Communities face Proposition 2 1/2 overrides to raise their taxes year after year. And, when state aid is cut yet again, even those increases don't cover the needs in schools and police stations. So, taxpayers end up with the worst of both worlds -- higher property tax bills and layoffs at the middle school. The fatigue is starting to show. According to a recent Globe story, after years of property tax hikes, voters are increasingly refusing to vote for overrides and turning a deaf ear to local funding needs.

So where does Patrick find the $1 billion-plus needed to properly fund cities and towns without relying on overrides and significant property tax increases? Massachusetts is currently sending more than $1 billion a year to keep taxes low in Rhode Island and Connecticut. It should legalize slot machines at the state's four race tracks and keep that lost $1.1 billion here.

According to a report commissioned by the state treasurer's office, Massachusetts could expect more than $1.1 billion to be spent in-state if slot machines are legalized at the four race tracks. Under legislation filed at the State House, about $480 million of that money would go directly to cities and towns every year.

So what would legalized slot machines in East Boston, Revere, Raynham, and Plainville mean for taxpayers from our 351 cities and towns?

Middleboro, where police, teachers and programs are under threat, would receive $1.6 million each year;

Springfield, where budget cuts axed teachers and left State Police patrolling parts of the city, would get $21.5 million annually;

Revere, where the City is struggling to replace a decrepit, 100-year-old police station, would receive roughly $4 million a year;

Boston could put the police on the street that Mayor Menino has sought with an annual infusion of $40 million annually.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed legislation legalizing slot machines at Massachusetts race tracks. Lieutenant Governor-elect Tim Murray, former mayor of Worcester, is a strong supporter who has pointed out the significant improvements his city could achieve with the $20 million it would receive yearly.

But what about the critics who say that Massachusetts will only add "social ills" by expanding gaming? The fact is that, every single day, thousands of residents already take their dollars to other gaming states and come home with whatever "social ills" slot machines may impart. And the argument that the Lottery will be damaged? Legislation will hold the Lottery harmless, just as Rhode Island's does, and the slot machine revenues will be overseen by the same treasurer who has made our Lottery the most successful in the nation.

For those of us whose towns host race tracks, legalized slot machines will provide the impetus for keeping these critical commercial taxpayers alive and ensure that thousands of friends and neighbors keep their jobs. These tracks will simply not survive much longer unless the playing field is leveled with our neighboring states.

But that is not the argument for Braintree or Agawam or any other municipality struggling to meet its bills. Keeping their teachers and public safety officers on the job, and maintaining property taxes that are manageable -- that is what expanded gaming means for them. Patrick should support this financial solution.

Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein represents Revere in the Legislature. Thomas Ambrosino is mayor of Revere.