While legislators in Springfield once again consider expanded gambling as a funding source, Des Plaines, Illinois Mayor Matthew Bogusz said he opposes any efforts to allow more casinos in the state. Des Plaines is the home of Rivers Casino, the state’s 10th casino that opened in 2011 and has generated $85 million in gaming tax revenue, of which Des Plaines has received $30.2 million, said Finance Director Dorothy Wisniewski.
This year the casino will provide Des Plaines with $8.9 million in tax revenue, plus another $1 million from the casino in food and beverage tax, licensing and compliance fees and fines and property tax. Bogusz noted, “If you look back at years previous, we typically spend about $4.5 million on capital infrastructure, and I would say, in the past, the lion share of that is funded via debt, not via cash. We are investing almost five times as much in 2015 than we were in 2011 and it’s cash, not debt,” he added.
That’s why he’s warning against allowing gambling to expand in Illinois. “If you’re reading the newspaper these days and watching any local news, you are hearing there are increased tensions placed on the state. We need to make sure to continue to stand against it,” Bogusz said. In 2012, Des Plaines officials passed an ordinance requiring the city use the extra revenue to pay off city debt, fund capital infrastructure projects and hire lobbyists to fight gaming expansion.
