East Dundee lifts video gambling moratorium; adopts new fees

East Dundee trustees have ended a nearly year-old moratorium on new video gambling terminals — but upped the ante for gaming license fees.

Trustees agreed on Monday to change a village ordinance to up the license fee from $250 to $500 per gaming terminal. The revised ordinance also bans gaming cafés from locating within the downtown district and requires businesses to be open for six months before adding gaming terminals.

In November, trustees agreed to a one-year moratorium on any new gaming licenses, noting the high number of terminals in the village. In all, East Dundee has a total of 126 gambling terminals.

“The village currently has one of the highest concentrations of video gaming per capita in Kane County as well as Illinois with one terminal for every 25 residents,” an August village memo reads. “In comparison, West Dundee has one terminal for every 263 residents.”

On Monday, Trustee Kathleen Mahony suggested the village review the ordinance in a year to determine if license fees need to increase.

Before Monday’s action, East Dundee had one of the lowest per-terminal license fees in the suburbs, according to a village study.

Trustee Tricia Saviano, however, cautioned against raising the fees too high. Many businesses, including several restaurants, rely on gaming revenue to help keep their businesses afloat.

In 2022, trustees adopted regulations restricting the noise emitted from machines and limited the number of machines allowed in each establishment to one for every 750 square feet of public floor space.

The revised ordinance clarifies that unfinished basements cannot be used to calculate the square footage requirements.