In boom times, the Grand Victoria Casino sent $2 million a month to the city of Elgin, money that paid for a new police station, a state-of-the-art library and a centerpiece downtown park.
But when the economy stumbled, the city’s monthly take dropped by nearly half. Now there’s a new threat on the horizon: If five new casinos open as proposed by state lawmakers, Elgin’s monthly paycheck could dwindle to as low as $650,000 a month.
That just might spell the end to popular programs like nonprofit grants and a $200 annual property tax rebate for seniors, said Elgin Mayor David Kaptain.
“It hurts the city of Elgin from a lot of different angles,” he said of the proposed gambling expansion.
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Riverboat casino towns throughout Illinois are similarly worried about the impact of the legislation being considered by Gov. Pat Quinn. The proposal would create new casinos in Chicago, north suburban Park City, the south suburbs, Rockford and Danville. While critics say fears are overblown, the industry and suburban officials fret that the expansion will divide gambling winnings among too many dealers.
“This expansion absolutely changes the whole playing field,” said Rudy Pamintuan, a spokesman for Des Plaines, home of the Rivers Casino. “We know this will impact us in a negative way. We just don’t know how much.”
Another big concern, casino officials say, is a provision to allow slot machines at six racetracks statewide, as well as at O’Hare International and Midway airports. Slots rake in the majority of casino revenue, and the proposed new racetrack locations are all close to existing casinos.
In Joliet, two casinos have brought in about $200 million to the city since 2003, allowing it to build a professional baseball stadium and a water park, as well as dole out grants to local charities.
Officials project gaming expansion would lead to a $6 million drop in the city’s casino revenue. That’s a major hit to this year’s projected take of $21 million, already the lowest in years
“We think by just moving the money around, it really thwarts the original intent of the gaming legislation,” City Manager Tom Thanas said.
Passed in 1990, the legislation was intended to help struggling river towns by providing jobs and economic development. Critics say the new gambling proposal has a different focus. While the casinos would get major tax breaks, the state hopes to boost its lagging take of revenue from gambling by adding more casinos and gambling opportunities and tacking on new fees for casino operators.
The state would use some of that money to pay its most overdue bills, fund construction projects and support its All Kids health care program.
In Des Plaines, officials had originally anticipated that the Rivers Casino, which is set to open in July, would generate as much as $500 million annually, creating $9 million in local taxes to be used for basic needs like flood prevention and street paving.
The city has recently scaled back its estimated revenues to between $325 million and $400 million, which would generate local taxes of $3 million to $4 million.
Lawmakers added a specific provision that would cut Des Plaines tax payments to the state to $180 million over 30 years, down from $300 million. That helped make the deal on the table now acceptable for the city, spokesman Pamintuan said.
But Des Plaines would have preferred that lawmakers had gone further, he said.
Because Des Plaines is required under its license to share 40 percent of its take with up to 25 surrounding communities, officials argue that O’Hare should also have to share its slot revenues with nearby towns.
On the Fox River, Aurora depends on casino money for more basic needs, including social services and paying its debts.
“As the state tries to expand these things they could kill the golden goose,” Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner warned.
While existing casino towns fret, expansion supporters say their fears are overblown, depicting it instead as a way to take back customers from surrounding states.
Steve Pannell is mayor of Park City, a north suburb of houses, mobile homes and mixed industry with a population under 8,000. Park City rose to consideration as a Lake County casino site after Waukegan failed in previous bids for a license over the past decade. Last year, the Park City Council approved preliminary steps for a casino site.
Noting that Park City is about 30 miles from Des Plaines, Pannell expects his town would draw mostly from Lake County, and from busloads of residents who now head 50 miles north to Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee.
“This is going to be great for Lake County,” Pannell said. “It’s not going to draw from Chicago or Arlington Heights or any other town in Illinois. We’re way up here. We’re losing tons of Illinois money in Wisconsin. We need the jobs.”
Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey also anticipated drawing customers from busloads of local residents that go every day to casinos in Madison, Wis., and Iowa.
He anticipated the money helping to modernize infrastructure and provide tax incentives to employers, just as Dubuque, Iowa, did recently, using casino revenue to help lure 1,000 jobs from IBM.
Hoping to bring down a notoriously high unemployment rate, Morrissey said, “This would be a major catalyst.”
Freelance writer Jack McCarthy contributed to this report.
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