Kane County Official Warns Casino Tax Revenues Are Unsustainable
GENEVA, Ill. (CBS) -- The head of the Kane County Board is warning that the county has to wean itself from what she calls an unreliable source of revenue.
As WBBM Newsrasdio's Regine Schlesinger reports, the Daily Herald says Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay, a Republican, says Kane County government has been relying too long on revenue from casino gambling to pay for projects and cover budget shortfalls.
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Now, McConnaughay says it is becoming clear that the funds are drying up. Since the new Rivers Casino opened in Des Plaines, the Grand Victoria in Elgin has taken in 24 percent less money, the Daily Herald reported.
Kane County predicts it will receive only about $5.5 million from the casino this year, compared with $12 million during the peak years, the newspaper reported.
McConnaughay tells the Daily Herald that the county no longer can rely on the money from the casinos being there. She calls it an "unstable, unreliable fund source," the newspaper reports.
Meanwhile, a bill to expand gambling in Illinois remains in limbo, as Gov. Pat Quinn has not signed it in its current form. But while that bill would bring casinos to the city of Chicago, Lake County, the southern suburbs, Rockford and Danville, it would allow for no new facilities in Kane County.
