A state spending plan has yet to be approved in the state of Illinois and this fact has now affected the gambling facilities of the state. Cities that play host to a casino will not receive a share of taxes earned from the state gambling losses until a full budget has been configured.
Earlier in the year, the office of State Governor Bruce Rauner stated that towns who offers video gambling in restaurants or bars will not receive their tax cuts as the state spending plan has not been approved. The same can now be said for cities with casino gambling, according to Leslie Munger’s office, the state Comptroller.
A spokesman for the Comptroller’s office, Rich Carter, stated that the comptroller is in agreement that Rauner is right on the video gambling stance and says casinos are in the same situation. Carter stated that the state has not been authorized to send payments from July and on as the budget is at an impasse. Cities such as Des Plaines and Elgin will have to wait for their tax payments.
According to Carter, local tax monies will be approved for payment but it all depends on when the state budget is finalized. The Comptroller’s office will also be taking a look at the Arlington International Racecourse and see if the same will apply to their local taxes as well.
Rauner recently vetoed the state budget which included $345,000 in money to be used for local governments from the taxes created by the horse racing in the state. This money will most likely be delayed too until the spending plan can be determined.
Bills from before July 1st are scheduled to be paid on time. Despite gambler losses having declined over the past few years, the taxes of casinos still provides large sums of money to the cities that offer such gambling. Just last month, such towns as Elgin earned $817,858 while Aurora earned $574,136.
The state of Illinois is currently struggling in many areas, with the budget impasse affecting several areas of payment, including employees of the state who have not received payment. Lawmakers will be meeting next week to discuss the budget but it does not seem as though any compromise plans have been created by the republican or democratic party to end the standstill.