Supporters of a referendum question to authorize a resort casino in Oxford County say it will bring much needed jobs and revenue to Maine. A new report out of the University of Maine, commissioned by the would-be casino owners, backs up their claim.

"About 2,784 full- and part-time jobs and just under $81 million in wages and salaries," says UMaine economist Todd Gabe, who wrote the peer-reviewed report for the group Maine Taxpayers Taking Charge.

State, local and tribal governments, according to the group, would also benefit by getting a cut of the gaming revenue. "I came up with an estimate of about $127 million in gaming revenue at the proposed Oxford facility," Gabe says.

Gabe says that's nearly double the amount of gaming revenue generated at Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway in Bangor, Maine's only gambling facility, and a vocal opponent of the Oxford proposal.

Hollywood Slots also shares its profits with the state. "It's exactly 1.88 times as large, so if you take the Hollywood Slots numbers and you almost double those numbers and if you account for the fact that the proposed resort casino in Oxford is also looking for approval for table games."

Hollywood Slots, which has not gotten approval for table games, such as poker and blackjack, says allowing them at the Oxford casino creates an unlevel playing field.

"There's nothing wrong with competition really, virtually in any industry, but it has to be in the same ballpark," says Dan Cashman, a spokesman for Hollywood Slots and other members of the coalition called Citizens Against the Oxford Casino. Another member is the Passamaquoddy Tribe, which has tried unsuccessfully to operate a casino.

Cashman did not dispute the UMaine gambling revenue estimates for an Oxford casino. But he says the Oxford area does not have enough restaurants and lodging facilities to support a gambling facility.

"The point is that Bangor, when Hollywood Slots and Raceway was built, already had a lot of those to already be able to absorb some of that," Cashman says. "In Oxford, there isn't as much infrastruture to actually, physically, take that money in. So the amount of money that could be spent, theoretically, those places don't exist."

"Is there enough to support those things" That's questionable, but will our project help in those areas" I think most definitely," says Jim Boldebook, a partner in Black Bear Entertainment, which is trying to build the Oxford casino. He says that the facility would provide dining and lodging options, but that other enterpreneurs would also flock to the area.

Boldebook says there is room for both Hollywood Slots and the Oxford casino. "We really are not focused on what they're doing as much I think they're focused on what we're doing. We're very focused on what we're doing and what we're going to bring to the table for the people of Maine."

Casino supporters paid a little over $11,000 for the UMaine study. UMaine used the money to give Professor Gabe time off to work on the study. "I'm a numbers person -- I really like working with the numbers -- and I'll let other people debate the political aspects of the issue," he says.

Gabe says that combining gambling revenue from Hollywood Slots and the Oxford casino, if approved, would top $180 million annually -- and that, per capita, that would be less than most other states with casinos. "But that still doesn't answer the question of how many casinos the state can ultimately support -- I guess that's really a question for the voters."

Mainers will get to weigh in on the Oxford casino in a couple months -- on Election Day, November 2nd.