Video gaming still not a sure thing for many towns

On the craps table, it’s a state known as “limbo”: The bet has been placed, but no one knows who will come out on top until the die is cast.

This summer, Illinois lawmakers legalized video gambling in bars and restaurants to raise funds for capital projects. Since then, more than a dozen communities in the western suburbs have banned the machines, and several more are poised to outlaw them before the end of this year.

Those that ban it are missing out on more than just Texas Hold ‘em at the corner pub. They also lose out on a portion of the money the machines would make, about a third of which will be taxed and spent on statewide projects.

As many more towns weigh a gambling ban, however, the overall amount of revenue video gambling is projected to raise for the state — estimated at more than 25 percent of the $31 billion capital projects bill — has been put into doubt.

With state gaming officials predicting at least a year until the machines are ready to be installed, it will not be clear any time soon how the state’s foray into video gambling will play out.

In most instances where a community banned gambling, lawmakers did so without making an overt case against the state’s funding plan. They tended to come to the decision for largely similar reasons: opposition voiced by residents and concerns about possible side effects such as crime and gambling addiction.

“It was just inappropriate for our community,” Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk said after the City Council unanimously banned video gambling there Oct. 5.

Many towns are still on the fence about gambling. In Hinsdale, Batavia and Lemont, officials said they are waiting to make a move until state regulators finalize the rules for video gaming.

The Illinois Gaming Board approved a set of “emergency rules” that last until March while it completes the permanent rules. There is no certain date when those will be ready, said Gaming Board spokesman Gene O’Shea.

Still, more than a few towns are leaning toward allowing gaming, and outside the Chicago area, bans have been rare.

Kane County Board member Jesse Vazquez, D-6th of Aurora, was part of a task force that narrowly endorsed video gambling. He said he does not want bar and restaurant owners losing business to towns that permit the machines.

Brian Pabst, Berwyn’s city administrator, said his community likely will not ban gambling, given that neighboring towns have not done so either.

“(If Berwyn bans it), people will just go next door,” he said.

Either way, it will be at least a year until any machines are in place. O’Shea said the state gaming board hopes to have video gaming up and running by the end of 2010.

With no machines installed and collecting money yet, it is not clear how much revenue the program will raise — or how the bans will affect that amount.

The law is silent on whether towns that pass up on video gambling will miss out entirely on the state’s capital program.

There is no realistic way to parse out gambling funds from the plans’ other revenues — taxes on alcohol and soft drinks and vehicle registration fees — said State Rep. Lou Lang, D-16th of Skokie, and the house’s assistant majority leader.

Lang said he thinks towns that ban it should not get any funds, but he admits that proposal has not gained traction among lawmakers.

In the meantime, gambling opponents are still hoping to find another means to fund the capital bill, but concrete alternatives are scarce, said State Rep. Sandra Pihos, R-42 of Glen Ellyn, all of whose district either has or plans to ban gambling.

“We talked about Medicare reform, pension reform (as a way to create funds),” Pihos said. “I think these are solutions that many of us are willing to discuss. … But that conversation just doesn’t happen.”