Philly Taxpayers Paying For Secure Casino

The city of Philadelphia may pay as much as $15 million to keep the Sugarhouse Casino safe and secure, but local taxpayers will foot much of the bill.

With just 20 days until the opening of Philadelphia's first casino, the city is putting in place a security plan to deal with traffic, neighborhood safety, surveillance cameras, even homeland security issues.

All that will cost millions, and the question is where is that money coming from with the city strapped for cash?

Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison and police have been working on the project for two years. The price tag was originally $14 million to 15 million dollars, but with no direct casino contribution to that and the city strapped for dollars, putting a plan together has been tricky to say the least.

As work crews put the finishing touches on the roads and intersections around the soon to open new sugar house casino in Fishtown, city police are getting ready to place a security blanket around the site that will make it safe for the neighborhood and attractive to patrons.

"The city is paying for it obviously, it is part of our duties to make sure we protect and serve," Gillison said.

That means dealing with increased traffic, neighborhood security, a potential increase in vice crimes like prostitution, even homeland security concerns for the thousands of gamblers who will show up here every day.

Gillison says with the state getting the bulk of the taxes from the casino, there was no provision for security costs that may reach $15 million.

Gillison and police moved resources around trying to cut costs and keep security tight. They have plans for using the vice squad, traffic officers, foot patrols, the marine unit on the riverside and 47 new surveillance cameras in the area.

All of that comes out of the city coffers . The casino will help out with the costs of fire and emergency response at the site

Former mayor John Street told us, "everyone was concerned that the facilities be 1st class and you can only get so much out of them."

Street says that local government is prohibited from taxing SugarHouse for the services.

"They are covered by our existing tax structure. They will pay the business privilege tax, the real estate tax, the wage tax," he said.