Dan Petrella
The State Journal Register
As of January, 81 restaurants, bars, veterans and fraternal organizations, and other establishments in the city of Springfield held video gaming licenses, according to the Springfield city clerk’s office. Altogether there were 349 licensed gaming terminals throughout the city. Each licensed establishment is allowed to have as many as five machines.
More than 20 other establishments with Springfield addresses have applications pending with the Illinois Gaming Board, according to a list the agency posted on its website Jan. 15. Meanwhile, the Springfield City Council recently approved liquor licenses for three locations of Dotty’s, a national chain of cafes that focus on video gambling, and a zoning change to allow Galaxy Gaming to operate at 1044 Stanford Ave.
However, at least one city alderman thinks it’s time to put the brakes on the expansion of gambling in the capital city.
No spending yet
The Illinois General Assembly in 2009 legalized video gambling at liquor-serving establishments to raise revenue for a statewide construction program. After a series of delays, machines went live statewide in September 2012.
The city council approved gaming locally that summer, and the city will dedicate proceeds from its 5 percent cut of each machine’s revenue to repairing local streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure. In addition to its share of the gambling revenue, the city receives a $500 annual fee from each establishment that offers gaming and each company that operates terminals in the city. There’s also an additional $250 annual fee for each machine, which the establishments and the operators can split.
Since gaming went live, the city has collected $711,975 in revenue, Budget Director Bill McCarty said. But so far, the city hasn’t spent any of that money and doesn’t plan to anytime soon, McCarty said. That includes the proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning March 1, which the city council is currently considering.
The Public Works Department is preparing for the first phase of a three-year, $86.6 million infrastructure upgrade program that will be paid for with bond revenue.
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Cap licenses?
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin would like to see the number of terminals stay about where it is currently. McMenamin, who along with Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson, voted against allowing video gaming in the city voiced concerns about the spread of gaming machines throughout the city when the council was considering the liquor licenses for the proposed Dotty’s locations at 3140 W. Iles Ave., 1861 Sangamon Ave. and 3335 Freedom Drive.
He raised concerns again when the council approved a zoning change to allow Galaxy Gaming to sell alcohol within 100 feet of a residential lot on the condition that more than half of its revenue come from sources other than alcohol, among other requirements.
“We have a proliferation of gambling parlors now in the city,” McMenamin said at the Jan. 21 council meeting. “Much of the lost gambling revenue does leave our city. If the city raises $1 million in revenue this coming year, it means there will have been $20 million of losses.”
That’s based on the city getting 5 percent of each machine’s revenue. McMenamin said he chose the $1 million figure based on the growing number of machines and the fact that the city has received about $500,000 since machines went live in late 2012. Much of the other revenue goes to the state and to out of town terminal operators, he said.
The alderman, who has seven gaming establishments in his ward, said he believes gambling creates “nothing of value to the local economy” and also expressed concerns about gambling addiction and other social costs. McMenamin is calling on Mayor Mike Houston, in his role as the city’s liquor commissioner, to cap the number of video gaming licenses the city issues.
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Cahnman, who voted “present” when the council approved gaming, said he did so in deference to a countywide advisory referendum in 1994 in which voters overwhelmingly said any gambling expansion in Sangamon County should be approved through another ballot measure.
McMenamin also cited the referendum as one of the reasons for his opposition.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 