I like the way Orland Park is looking at the possibility of allowing video gaming.
With owners of some businesses in town saying they’re at a competitive disadvantage, village leaders are conducting studies and gathering information about the pros and cons of the controversial issue.
Citizens can have their say during three town hall meetings, with the first set for Monday.
I often criticize public officials for lacking transparency, but in this case I credit Orland Park leaders for conducting what appears to be an open and thorough process.
I like how Orland Park policymakers are responding to concerns of constituents, offering the public several chances to provide input and using an evidence-based process to formulate legislation.
I get that the proposal has its critics. I understand why eight years ago, the village opted out of the opportunity to reap revenue from the misfortunes of unlucky gamblers.
Whoops, I meant to say gamers — the industry’s preferred marketing term for people who lose money playing games of chance. Gaming is about fun and promoting tourism, whereas gambling is about wagering money.
I’ll pass on taking a side in the moral debate on gambling. I respect Southland towns like Frankfort, Palos Heights, Palos Park and South Holland that have elected to prohibit video gaming in their communities.
I listen with utmost seriousness when opponents talk about the societal costs of gambling. I believe there are many people with limited means who squander their incomes on games they’re more likely to lose than win.
But, I believe, the state legislature is the proper forum to litigate that debate. Once lawmakers have decided to allow a sin that they can tax, I think the question becomes one of economics rather than morality.
There’s no point in one town missing out on potential revenue when all its neighbors are reaping the rewards, I say.
I gathered data from the Illinois Gaming Board to find out how much tax revenue video gaming generates for cash-strapped communities in the Southland. I found that over the past year, 45 south-suburban municipalities have collected nearly $7 million in local taxes on video gaming.
Local receipts ranged from $866,082 generated by 40 gaming parlors in Oak Lawn to $1,398 generated for Olympia Fields from its two licenses during the 12 months ending Oct. 31.
Mind you, that’s just the local share of the income generated by video gaming. Those same establishments that generated nearly $7 million in local tax revenue also pumped about six times as much — or $42 million — into state coffers.
As of Oct. 31, the state reported 27,842 video game terminals at 6,296 establishments throughout Illinois. By law, each establishment may have up to five terminals.
During the 12 months ending Oct. 31, people betting on video gaming machines throughout the state spent nearly $5 billion. Establishments paid out nearly $3.7 billion in winnings.
Revenues are shared equally between retailers who furnish and maintain machines and establishment operators, with the split based on “net terminal income,” or NTI. The NTI for the 12 months ending Oct. 31 was nearly $1.27 billion and the state collected 30 percent of that, or $380 million.
The state keeps 83 percent of the tax take and distributes the rest back to municipalities.
Owners of some establishments sued the gaming board in April, claiming the profit-sharing rules were unfair.
After Oak Lawn, south suburban towns collecting the most in revenue from video gaming over the past year are Crestwood ($384,190), Tinley Park ($318,843), Oak Forest ($287,790), Mokena ($284,428), Chicago Ridge ($267,188), Calumet City ($241,808), Hickory Hills ($237,112), Alsip ($233,333), Midlothian ($226,282), Chicago Heights ($221,111), Blue Island ($218,388) and Worth ($204,611).
Some towns are very restrictive about allowing video gaming. Evergreen Park, for example, permits terminals only at fraternal and veterans organizations. The sole establishment in town with video gaming — an American Legion post — generated $28,012 in revenue for the town over the past 12 months.
Caulfield’s Restaurant Ltd., which does business as Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery, is Flossmoor’s sole establishment where video gaming is permitted. It generated $4,729 in revenue for the village in the past year. Hazel Crest’s sole licensee — an American Legion hall — netted $8,228 in revenue for the village.
Some destinations are busier than others. Lynwood has just one establishment with video gaming. The gaming board lists the license holder as Lynwood Tap LLC, doing business as T’s Bar & Grill. The establishment generated $138,949 in revenue for the village over the past year.
That’s more than the $132,741 in local tax revenue generated by five establishments in Hometown that have video gaming terminals. It’s nearly as much as 12 establishments in Homer Glen that generated a collective $148,280 for the village over the past year.
Communities collecting significant revenue from video gaming include unincorporated Will County ($191,823), Lockport ($191,002), Calumet Park ($184,776), Matteson ($183,987), Lemont ($182,843), New Lenox ($166,838), Palos Hills ($128,910), Orland Hills ($118,634), Markham ($116,003), Homewood ($86,887), South Chicago Heights ($86,816), Merrionette Park ($83,317), Harvey ($83,089), Glenwood ($81,062) and East Hazel Crest ($48,114).
Southland towns on the lower end of the revenue stream include Peotone ($37,233), University Park ($34,084), Country Club Hills ($30,420), Phoenix ($28,761), Ford Heights ($27,846), Thornton ($24,646), Park Forest ($23,823), Robbins ($23,476), Dixmoor ($23,244) and Sauk Village ($11,019).
Readers may recall Cook County prohibits video gaming in unincorporated areas. Will County voted in 2015 to ban video gaming in unincorporated areas but allowed 27 establishments that had already obtained licenses since 2012 to continue.
Some towns initially resisted video gaming before heeding calls from constituents about competitiveness. Tinley Park at first banned video gaming but reversed course in 2014.
Orland Park recently commissioned a study that concluded allowing video gaming could generate more than $460,000 in annual tax revenue for the village. If those projections are realized, that would rank Orland Park second behind Oak Lawn among south suburbs benefitting the most from video gaming revenues.
If Orland Park officials decide to allow video gaming, the type of ordinance it writes will affect the amount of revenue raised. Village leaders may decide to limit gaming to full-service bars and restaurants that have a kitchen and full food menu.
Other towns permit gaming at convenience stores, liquor stores, gas stations, truck stops and other places that allow package liquor sales as opposed to on-premise consumption. The top revenue-generator in Glenwood is Shop-N-Drive. In Mokena, it’s Lenny’s Gas-N-Wash and in New Lenox it’s Lenny’s Food & Fuel.
Some establishments serve food and liquor but cater to gamblers as the primary focus of their business. A chain of parlors doing business as Stella’s Place is the top revenue generator among 40 establishments in Oak Lawn, 21 in Chicago Ridge, 16 in Hickory Hills and five in Hometown.
Blackhawk Restaurant Group is another chain that operates establishments marketed with various brands, including Betty’s and Penny’s. They’re the top revenue generators among 19 licenses in Calumet City, 13 in Calumet Park, 17 in Chicago Heights, 16 in Lemont, 17 in Lockport, 12 in Matteson and four in Merrionette Park.
Orland Park will hold the first of three scheduled town hall forums on video gambling at 7 p.m. Monday at the village’s Civic Center, 14750 S. Ravinia Ave. Two others are planned for the same time on Dec. 11 and Jan. 8 but the locations have not yet been announced.