Rockford pushes for Hard Rock casino
City staff in Rockford has backed a proposal to build a Hard Rock Casino over another two projects companies submitted to the city recently.
US.- Mayor Tom McNamara announced Rockford has approved a proposed Hard Rock Casino in town. The company is one out of three which wanted to develop a venue in the Illinois city.
“Hard Rock has the strongest and most complete proposal,” Mayor McNamara said. “Its financing structure is credible and includes realistic and sustainable minimum gambling tax guarantees. That, along with additional revenue sharing payments to offset impacts to the city.”
Should Rockford aldermen approve Hard Rock’s plan, the Illinois Gaming Board would review it in a lengthy process.
Taxes
The gambling industry in Illinois keeps reporting changes, this time by introducing a new law that will allow Rockford to increase taxes. On August 9, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill that allows Rockford to raise taxes on video gaming machines.
The Senate Bill 1558, which takes effect immediately, was sponsored by Senator Steve Stadelman. It allows Rockford to raise licence fees on video gaming machines in order to generate more revenue.
Current laws feature a non-home rule that says that cities in Illinois can’t charge more than US$25 annually for a video gaming machine licence. The new Illinois law raises the limit to US$250, but it only does in Rockford.
