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Illinois Mayors Oppose Racino Move

Posted on November 16th, 2010

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The future of expanded gambling in most states has been decided mostly by the recent elections and the referenda it brought with it. Most of those that have approved of slot machines in horse racing venues have admitted that it does more good than harm, especially in terms of adding revenue to the otherwise underperforming facilities. In the case of the state of Illinois, having “racinos” in their cities is currently being opposed by mayors themselves—a very different scenario from other cities with racing facilities that seem to jump at the opportunity to introduce gambling in their racetracks.

The mayors of towns in Illinois that host casinos are blatantly objecting to slot machines at horse racing tracks in the state. This includes the nine towns of Alton, Aurora, Des Plaines, East Peoria, East St. Louis, Elgin, Joliet, Metropolis and Rock Island, which host casinos in their riverfront communities. They are now pleading the legislators of the state to refuse the addition of slots in racetracks, arguing that the towns’ casinos are already struggling as is and may be pushed deeper in jeopardy if more gambling facilities will be added. The mayors, in behalf of their towns, have formed a coalition called the Cities Against Slots at the Tracks. The group will have its representatives in Springfield to attend the first day of the General Assembly’s fall veto session. The group’s members are expected to protest any legislation regarding racinos that will be forwarded. The coalition of mayors claims that one of the proposals for racinos will be for the six racetracks of the state to host up to 6,500 slot machines. The same proposal is also calling for the state to open up four additional casino licenses. The licenses are suggested to be distributed among the cities of Chicago, Lake County, Danville and Ford Heights, each to get one license.

Included in the representatives to be present in Springfield is Tom Hoechst, the mayor of Alton. He said, “I originally planned to be up there on the pension (reform) issue, but now I’m going to meet with people on both. There is a real fear that this is going to pass.” He claims that the state, as is, is already hosting an atmosphere that is unfair for its casinos in the form of taxation and other adverse regulations. He says that because of these practice, casino revenues have been continuously sliding. This, in turn, has a very bad effect on the cities that have become heavily dependent on their share of casino earnings. Another mayor, Thomas Weisner of Aurora, which host s the Hollywood Casino, opined, “The intent of the original Illinois Riverboat Gambling Act of 1990 was to create jobs in older Illinois river communities with a need for economic development projects.” He added that the Arlington Racetrack owner Dick Duchossois, wants to have slots in his facility, which may threaten Hollywood Casino’s existence. Weisner said that Hollywood cannot afford any threat, with Arlington Heights having a 7 percent unemployment rate, one of the state’s lowest. He explained, “Our nine riverboat cities have unemployment rates ranging from 8.9 percent to 17.2 percent as of September 2010. We should continue to focus on the original intent of the act, which is providing jobs and economic development for river cities, not for rich track owners and well-to-do communities.”

The mayors claimed that the legislation would further divide the available gambling revenues of the state and put the river communities at a disadvantage. It may be viewed as ironic that the original riverboat gambling law was originally implemented to strengthen these communities. The coalition also claimed that a report written by the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has already named a number of factors that endanger the gaming industry in the riverboat communities. One factor is the decline of overall gaming per capita spending by 3 percent for this year. Other factors, such as the awful economy, competition from neighboring states, the tax structure and the smoking ban on all indoor facilities have contributed to the decline of the industry. The mayors fear that an addition to these factors, including the addition of slots in racing venues, cannot be handled by the casinos anymore.