Where’s the money coming from?    
    Anne Arundel County is counting on a nice windfall to help it pay its $1.2 billion in bills in the next fiscal year.
    Can you guess from what tree that money will fall?
1. Your property taxes?
2. The county’s share of income taxes?
3. Switching money from county pocket to pocket?
4. Investment income?
5. Local sales taxes?
6. Fees you pay for recording and transferring property?
7. Mysterious other sources?
8. Payments for licenses and permits?
9. Slot machines?
    Yes, the money tree is the video lottery terminals expected to start spinning at the Arundel Mills casino in June.
    Officially, county budget officer John R. Hammond says, that tree is called Shared State Revenue. This year, Anne Arundel’s “local throwback” will rise to $25.8 million from $10.6 million over the past two years.
    “Without that $15 million anticipated increase, budgeting for FY 2013 “would be much more difficult,” Hammond says.
    Even so, slots revenue is just a drop. Property ($585 million) and income taxes ($383.8 million) fill most of the bucket.
    But it’s triple the size of the county’s shortfall. If that drop weren’t already counted, it could go far.
    Do you think county officials would like to see table games join slot machines at Maryland Live Casino?
    As our late-columnist Bill Burton used to say, if you know the answer, it’s not a question.