In response to Illinois’ expanded gambling law, the Danville city council was poised to limit video gambling parlors to those that generate more than half their revenue from non-gambling sources. The goal was to protect existing businesses. But Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said owners of bars and other establishments offering the machines contacted him to protest the move. For example, Drew Rush, owner of the Pub in downtown Danville, said video gambling provides more than half of his business’ revenue.
So aldermen discussed an option to grandfather in existing video gambling locations and require future video gambling parlors to generate more than half of their revenue from non-gambling sources. Aldermen also suggested Williams reintroduce an earlier proposal to charge a fee for each gambling terminal in the city.
Williams said the staff will research the legalities of the various proposals and present a proposal to the council. However, video gambling is likely to increase, even if the city bans parlors and cafes, since the new gambling expansion law allows six instead of five terminals per establishment.
The new law led the Oswego Village Board to unanimously vote to amend its gaming ordinance to allow licensed establishments to add the extra terminals. Currently in the village 13 businesses are licensed to offer video gambling machines; 12 have the current village maximum of five terminals and one business has three for a total of 63 machines. Illinois Gaming Board figures show between May 2018 and May 2019, players lost $47.4 million on video gaming terminals; they generated a total of $1.1 million in net taxable income, providing the state with $956,031 and the village $191,206.
