Illinois city to vote on video gambling expansion
The City Council of Washington will host a vote on September 3 to decide whether to allow a video gambling expansion or not.
US.- Illinois recently approved a massive gambling expansion bill, and cities are now interested in boosting their gambling operations. The Washington City Council will vote on September 3 to allow businesses with five video gambling machines to add a sixth machine.
The council will also consider increasing the maximum number of allowed machines in Washington from 40 to 46. This comes after Illinois approved a bill that includes a massive gambling expansion.
“Nobody in the city with five machines has formally requested a sixth machine. But a few have expressed an interest in adding a sixth machine,” said City Administrator Ray Forsythe.
Current laws establish that business owners in Washington must pay US$500 for a video gambling licence fee. For each machine, owners also have to pay US$50. Moreover, machine owners also pay US$500 annually for a video gambling licence and US$500 for each machine. It is necessary to have a liquor licence before having a video gambling one.
The gambling bill approved earlier this year in the state authorises six new casinos. The casinos will be in downtown Chicago, Williamson County, Rockford, Waukegan, Danville and South Suburbs. Those facilities, as well as race tracks and sports venues with more than 17,000 seats, will also be eligible to buy sports betting licences.
