HARRISBURG -- With as many as six new casinos opening by late 2009, including the one being built on Pittsburgh's North Shore and the larger, permanent casino at The Meadows in Washington County, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board says it needs to beef up its workforce.

The seven-member board, born when slots gambling was legalized in July 2004, is seeking a $37.3 million budget, with 37 new hires, for the fiscal year that starts next July 1. That's a $4 million, or 12 percent, increase over its current budget for 2008-09.

"The gaming board is overseeing an industry that is growing," said board spokesman Doug Harbach. "In order to meet the obligations of the Gaming Act, we need personnel to provide the proper oversight."

The gaming board doesn't get its revenue from the state's $28 billion general fund. It comes instead from a $5 million surcharge on each casino, which is in addition to a 55 percent state tax on casino profits. Seven of the 14 casinos permitted by the 2004 act are now open, although some are using temporary buildings that will be replaced by larger, permanent facilities.

Six of the current slots parlors are racetrack/casinos, including the temporary casino at The Meadows. The seventh existing casino is a stand-alone building in the Poconos, in northeastern Pennsylvania.

In 2009, two more stand-alone casinos are due to open, the Sands Bethworks in Bethlehem, Northampton County, and the North Shore casino near Heinz Field.

The Meadows also will open its new permanent casino in May, and, later in 2009, a permanent casino will replace the temporary slots parlor now in use at Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Bucks County.

Racetrack/casinos and stand-alone casinos can, by law, have up to 5,000 slots each. The 2004 law also provides for two smaller, "resort hotel" casinos, each with 500 slots. Both of them also could open in 2009, but first they have to be licensed by the gaming board. One would be near Valley Forge national park, west of Philadelphia, and the other in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Because of all this expansion, Mr. Harbach said, the gaming board needs to add 37 employees, in addition to the 263 employees authorized now. Not all those budgeted jobs are currently filled -- about 30 are vacant.

Most of the 37 new workers would be casino compliance and enforcement agents, who are stationed at slots parlors.

"They receive and investigate complaints from patrons and make sure each casino is complying with its internal controls that guide every part of the facility's operation," Mr. Harbach said. The rest of the new hires would be auditors, computer specialists and lawyers.

The gaming board itself isn't the only slots-related agency that is asking for more money for fiscal 2009-10, which starts July 1.

Pennsylvania State Police are seeking a 28 percent increase in their casino-related budget -- $18.2 million, up from the current $14.2 million. Eleven state police officers are stationed at each casino in shifts around the clock, so they'll need more personnel to staff the six casinos to open in 2009.

The state Department of Revenue also has casino-related costs, because it maintains a central control computer system that is linked to every one of the thousands of slot machines around Pennsylvania. The department audits each casino twice a year to ensure the state gets its full 55 percent share of the gross terminal revenue, the money that remains after winners are paid.

Of the state's slots revenue, 34 percent goes for property tax reductions. The state received more than $750 million this year, which was distributed to homeowners around the state. The state also gets 12 percent of the gross terminal revenue to aid the horse-racing industry and increase prize money for race winners; 5 percent for an economic development fund, which is helping pay for Pittsburgh's new hockey arena; and 4 percent for the host counties and cities of casinos, to defray their police and road costs.

The Revenue Department wants a 2.4 percent increase in its casino-related funds next year, to nearly $10 million.

The fourth agency that oversees casinos is Attorney General Tom Corbett's office, which prosecutes gambling-related crimes. It is seeking just over $1 million for 2009-10, a 17 percent increase.

The Gaming Control Board recently submitted all four budget requests to Gov. Ed Rendell, who will present a complete budget proposal for 2009-10 to the Legislature in early February. The Legislature must approve a budget by July 1.

The gaming control board isn't one of the many agencies directly under Mr. Rendell's control, so it isn't directly affected by his recent plan to have his agencies cut their budgets by 4.25 percent.

Those budget reductions, plus a Rendell-ordered hiring freeze and a ban on out-of-state travel, will save $311 million this year. But gaming board members said they can't comply with a hiring freeze and travel ban. They need to hire more workers for the new casinos and must travel out of state on background investigations for would-be casino licensees.

Mr. Harbach said the board is sensitive to the fiscal problems caused by the current national economic slowdown. It has identified nearly $1 million in savings, much of it from not filling the 30 jobs now vacant.

"We expect to save $713,585 in personnel expense through delayed hiring and reduced benefit costs," said Eileen McNulty, the board's chief financial officer. Other savings will come from reduced operating expenses, such as delaying computer purchases and cutting travel costs by $50,000.