Why Kane Co. might strip riverboat gambling money from municipalities
Kane County's expected share of riverboat gambling proceeds will shrink below $3 million for the first time in 2018, and that might mean municipalities that permit video gambling won't get any riverboat cash.
County board member Kurt Kojzarek raised the idea of a ban. The county dedicated $775,307 of its cut of Grand Victoria riverboat proceeds to external grants this year. The county handed out more than $1 million in grants to local social service agencies and municipalities just two years ago.
"Allowing video gaming terminals within their boundaries does have an adverse effect on money coming from the riverboat," Kojzarek said, echoing a similar statement he made in May. He then asked what it would take to block municipalities with video gambling from receiving any riverboat cash.
Only two municipalities received riverboat money from the county in 2017. St. Charles received $71,000 to address flooding along the Seventh Avenue Creek. Aurora received about $3,000 for a Grand Army of the Republic museum statue.
Kojzarek's plan would ban those grants. St. Charles and Aurora have legalized video gambling. Social service agencies, like Lazarus House in St. Charles or Hesed House in Aurora, would still be eligible.
Kojzarek explained his plan would free up money for those social service agencies.
John Hoscheit, chairman of the county's riverboat committee, said the Grand Victoria staff should weigh in on any changes to how the county will use the money. He added that Kojzarek had a "legitimate" point.
County board member Theresa Barreiro initially fought back against Kojzarek's idea. Barreiro, who represents Aurora, said the city often acts as a conduit to distribute riverboat money, including funds from the Hollywood Casino. That casino does not share proceeds with Kane County in the way the Grand Victoria in Elgin does.
But when Kojzarek explained to her after the meeting that there would be no restriction on local social services agencies or nonprofit groups applying, Barreiro said she might be able to get behind Kojzarek's plan.
There are a couple of potential hiccups.
Hoscheit said he encourages municipalities to act as the applicant for community groups seeking riverboat funds, because municipalities know how to work with other government bodies. That makes it easier for the county staff to track how riverboat money recipients spend the dollars.
A second sticking point is the county allows video gambling. County board members voiced public support for the machines just a few weeks ago.
When asked, Kojzarek admitted to an element of do what I say, not what I do in his proposal.
He said he would have voted against legalizing video gambling if he'd been on the board for the initial vote, but with more than 1,200 video gambling machines in use throughout the county, "the genie is out of the bottle," he said.
The other way to reduce hypocrisy in the plan would be to end the county's use of riverboat money. County officials will evaluate $2.5 million in riverboat funding requests from county departments for 2018 within the next couple of weeks.
Kojzarek said he wants to find ways to reduce the county's use of riverboat funds. The agreement with Grand Victoria calls for funding of several specific county programs.
"Those should be considered sacred cows," Kojzarek said. "Anything else will need to be looked at annually for efficiency, productivity and results. If there is another entity out there that can do it better, I am all for taking it away from the county and giving it to someone else."
Some of the county expenses funded by riverboat funds include tuition reimbursement for county employees, the state's attorneys' domestic violence program, farmland preservation, the county's recycling program, and the county board's Kane County Connects newsletter.