The Salisbury Township Police Department is requesting $118,000 in Lehigh County Casino Grant funding.

However, that amount, or any amount, is not a sure bet.

“This may be our last chance to get any money,” Salisbury Chief of Police Allen W. Stiles said in his report to the township board of commissioners April 13.

“Harrisburg has taken control of the grant and has yet to vote,” Stiles said.

The state legislature is attempting to rewrite the casino revenue law.

In 2016, Mount Airy Casino, Monroe County, won a legal ruling stating the varying rates of host fees is unconstitutional. A casino pays 2 percent of slot machine revenue, or $10 million, to a municipality where it’s based.

Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners President James A. Brown asked what officials and residents could do to help ensure receipt of casino grants funding.

Stiles recommended state senators and representatives be contacted.

“It’s important that we keep that [casino grants] funding local,” Stiles said.

“I’m hoping we get the grant because it will be more equipment for the township that the taxpayers don’t have to pay for,” Stiles said.

In 2016, Lehigh County disbursed $307,664 in casino revenue from table games, with $183,836 going to municipalities bordering Bethlehem.

In Lehigh County, the municipalities of Fountain Hill, Hanover Township, Salisbury Township, Upper Saucon, Cooperburg and Allentown receive casino revenue.

In 2016, the Lehigh County Casino Grant provided $89,806.65 to the Salisbury Township Police Department. The grant was used to purchase a patrol vehicle, a license plate reader system, two mobile data terminals, two car-camera systems, nine e-ticket systems and three window-tint meters.

“Salisbury is probably the most impacted because of the casino,” Stiles said. “We’re impacted by that traffic, as is Fountain Hill and some of the other local municipalities.”

The Casino Traffic Safety Corridor (East Emmaus Avenue, East Susquehanna Street, Broadway and Seidervsille Road) in Salisbury provides access to the South Side Bethlehem Sands Casino.

In 2016, the Lehigh County Casino Grant provided $11,373.80 for traffic stops in the Casino Traffic Safety Corridor, resulting in 242 vehicle stops, 353 traffic citations and seven arrests.

Arrests included those for possession of controlled substances, using altered or fraudulent state documents, three DUIs, felony fleeing police, possession of alcohol by a minor, depositing debris on a highway and apprehending a wanted fugitive.

“We’re trying to combat that with extra patrols,” Stiles said.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Act provides municipal grants to fund human services, infrastructure improvements, facilities, emergency services and health and public safety expenses associated with licensed gaming operations.

Northampton County collects an impact fee from table games and slot machines from Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, which opened in 2009.

In an agreement brokered with Northampton County, Lehigh County receives a portion of the revenue.