The city council of Aurora, Illinois voted 9-3 to place a 6-month moratorium on new video gambling licenses. The moratorium was opposed by a statewide restaurant association.
Council members said they instituted the moratorium as a stop-gap measure while they figure out how to regulate VGTs. Aldermen said they wanted to stop the proliferation of gambling machines in the city.
City Clerk Wendy McCambridge said of the decision, “There is no question video gaming does bring in revenue. We just thought it was time for us to look at everything in total.”
Aurora’s Video Gambling Machines
At the moment, Aurora has 141 video gambling machines in 31 different establishments throughout the city. Each establishment receives a maximum of 5 gambling machine per storefront. Ten video gambling machine licenses for 2 different establishments are pending at the moment, so it is likely Aurora will have 151 video gambling machines in 33 businesses by the end of the year.
McCambridge estimated that the city might have as many as 370 VGT terminals in 74 different businesses, if new procedures are not installed. The city council pointed to other cities which did not impliment standards in their licensing practices. In those Illinois cities, grocery stores and laundrymats have gambling machines.
Casinos in Aurora, Illinois
Aurora is different from other Illinois cities in one other way. It is home to the Hollywood Casino, a 41,384 square foot casino with 1,100 slot machines and 28 gaming tables (including poker tables). Aurora is also the site of The Foundry, an off-track betting facilities.
City leaders believe that the VGT gaming already allowed in Aurora is partly to blame for the decline in revenues at Hollywood Casino and The Foundry over the past few years.
Aurora thus is moving to protect one set of business interests against another set of businesses. The Hollywood Casino (especially) employees hundreds of Aurora residents, so city leaders see it as a business worth protecting.
Illinois Video Lottery Terminals
When the Illinois State Legisalture approved video gambling terminals in 2012, it left regulations to the city governments. Over the past 5 years, cities have wrestled with the best way to impliment VGT gaming, balancing revenues for small businesses and city governments with the social problems gaming machines sometimes cause.
Some Illinois counties have seen most of their cities approve VGTs, while one city amongst them refused to allow video gambling machines based on moral concerns. In those cases, city leaders see their residents driving to the next town over to gamble. Their city’s small businesses lose revenues, while some of the city’s overall wealth goes to another community.
Illinois Cities with Video Gambling Terminals
In other cases, the slot machine-style video gambling machines have been embraced. Local businesses receive an additional stream of revenue, while the city also receives subsidies. Yet political and religious leaders see a never-ending proliferation in video gambling, sometimes with consequences for local families due to problem gambling habits.
Three aldermen opposed the moratorium: Judd Lofchie of 10th Ward, Richard Mervine of the 8th Ward, and at-large alderman Sherman Jenkins. Judd Lofchie was the most outspoken of the three dissenters. Calling for the measure to be sent to the Aurora Finance Committee, Lofchie said he was “dead set against it”.
