A.G. Gancarski
Another news cycle brings another financial milestone for “Families for Safety and Prosperity,” the political committee looking to bring slot machines to bestbet Jacksonville.
Jacksonville Greyhound Racing put another $500,000 into the slots referendum marketing effort on Oct. 27, bringing its total contribution to $2 million.
Of the $2 million, the committee has spent $1,725,751.
Of that spend, roughly $264,000 went to mailers. Multi-media advertising occupied another $1.3 million. And $100,000 was spent on digital advertising.
Though public polling on the measure is non-existent and private polling is not being shared, the committee continues to spend aggressively, committing $300,000 to marketing on Oct. 31.
The slots referendum is the second Duval County referendum of the year with at least $2 million in dedicated resources.
The “Yes for Jacksonville” effort saw a variety of donors, most of them institutional stakeholders, pushing the pension reform referendum’s coffers over the $2.1 million mark.
That referendum required considerable voter education, as voters in tax-averse Duval County had to be convinced of the wisdom of extending a 1/2 cent infrastructure sales tax past its expected sunset date in 2030.
The extension was intended to provide actuarial certainty that there would be a dedicated funding source for the nearly $3 billion of unfunded liability across Jacksonville’s public pension plans.
The slots referendum hasn’t required such marketing; resistance has not manifested, in part because the measure has been marketed as “something we all can agree on,” a way to expand entertainment for consenting adults, bringing new jobs to Jacksonville and a potential tax windfall of $5.7 million (1.5 percent of anticipated slots revenue).
Bestbet Jacksonville, which hopes to host the slot machines, has been in the news recently for a state ruling prohibiting “designated-player” poker games.
