In Bloomington, Illinois, one of the Illinois Gaming Board’s list of top 10 video gambling cities since 2015, the moratorium on new video gambling licenses will expire September 1.
City Manager Tim Gleason said he’ll share a document at the city council’s August 26 meeting, including allowing a cap of 60 licenses; currently 238 video gambling machines operate in 52 locations.
Gleason said, “There’s been a fair amount of staff and elected officials’ time in trying to reach something that ideally everybody can vote ‘yes’ on the 26th. The one thing I can share is the moratorium will be lifted and establishing a cap at higher number than what we currently have.”
The document proposes a business must be open one year before it can apply for a video gambling license and it must prove at least half of its revenue comes from non-gambling activities. Also, the proposal would not raise the city’s $500 annual per-machine licensing fee. Councilwoman Julie Emig and others requested that it be lowered to $250 for fraternal organizations and charities. “I think this document does represent a compromise that reasonably captures the views of many differing opinions. It’s incremental progress but it’s progress,” Emig said.
Mayor Tari Renner said he’s glad to see the moratorium ending. “I don’t think anybody is a big fan of video gambling, but my position has always been that I am against the moratorium or a ceiling because I think that is artificial. I think the market should determine that,” he said. Renner noted the moratorium prevented some establishments from selling to new owners because they would lose their video gambling machines.
The document also proposes allowing establishments to operate six video gambling machines instead of five. Renner said most council members do not support that, even though it’s permitted under Illinois’ new gambling law. For large truck stops, the licensing fee would be increased to $1,500 per machine, and the number of allowable machines would double from five to 10.
Tim Jones, owner of gambling machine vendor Midwest Electronics Gaming, said if truck stops can have 10 machines, other businesses should be able to have six. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t give it to them, I’m saying you should be fair, and everyone should have a fair shot at it,” Jones said. Tom Hubbard, owner of Cheeks Bar and Grill, added the city would be affecting its own tax base. “The big check goes to some corporation out of town, whereas my big check comes to me and I reinvest it right here in town, by hiring people,” he said.
And Tony Wargo, co-owner of Joe’s Pub, commented, “In fact, you’re really giving a competitive advantage to these larger establishments when they already have a competitive advantage simply by the fact that they generate the revenue they do. They are open 24 hours a day. Unfortunately we can’t compete with that. We can’t tell anyone that they can come 24 hours a day to our establishment. This isn’t building a strong relationship with local establishments.”
Ward 5 Alderman Joni Painter said she’s in favor of continuing the moratorium indefinitely due to the amount of money gambling takes out of the local economy.
