Upon further review, Mount Prospect gambling measure fails, for now
The Mount Prospect village board voted 3-1 at a special meeting Sunday to reserve the right to charge a penny-per-push tax on video gambling, leading Mayor Paul Hoefert to declare, "So it passes."
However, Hoefert and other village leaders soon found out that he had spoken too soon.
A review of requirements later determined that the board needed four "yes" votes for the measure to pass. With Trustee Augie Filippone voting "no" and Trustees Colleen Saccotelli, Terri Gens and Peggy Pissarreck absent Sunday, the tax proposal lacked the votes needed for approval.
"The fact is that you've got to have four out of seven, regardless of who is there," Hoefert said.
The proposed tax likely will come up again at Tuesday's regular village board meeting.
Village officials believe that since they took a vote Sunday, they can bring the matter back up for reconsideration Tuesday despite a state deadline Monday to pass such measures.
The special meeting was called Sunday to beat that deadline set by the General Assembly. Under the village ordinance, the tax wouldn't have gone into effect until May 1, giving officials six months to decide whether to go forward with it or drop it.
If they move forward, the tax could raise as much as $78,000 a year, which could be applied toward property tax relief, Finance Director Amit Thakkar said.
Mount Prospect was among several suburbs where village boards held hastily called special meetings over the weekend to vote on push tax proposals. In most instances, the proposals called for a 1-cent tax to be imposed for every bet, or "push," on a video gambling terminal.