May 23, 2007
Oppose SB 262
Tax Break for Riverboat Casinos
Exemption for Admission Tax for Reentry at Riverboat Casino
At a time when so many groups have come to you to ask for funding, SB 262 will give a tax break to the casinos.
In 2006 there were over 16 million admissions at Illinois riverboat casinos. Casino Rock Island has an admissions tax of $2 per person, and all other casinos pay $3 per person. The municipalities or county receive $1 for each admission from the state.. If the casinos are just charged an admission tax once a day for each gambler, this will impact both the state and local share of revenue. The loss of revenue to the State could be considerable.
When the Legislature passed the 1999 bill to allow dockside gambling at riverboat casinos, one of the arguments used to pass this bill was that people were being "trapped" on the boats for 2 hour and they could not get off. One of the arguments raised was that people who had a gambling problem or who were gambling addicts would suffer if they were required to stay at the casino for that length of time because they would continue to gamble.
Since the enactment of the dockside gambling law, people can now gamble at the casinos over their lunch hour. If these same gamblers decide to come back after work or later in the evening, SB 262 would give the casinos a "free pass" so they would not be charged an admission tax for the same person gambling multiple times in one day.
This legislation would encourage casinos to target and market problem and pathological gamblers, since their taxes would be lower if these patrons gambled several times a day.
The Legislature should safeguard the citizens from predatory marketing practices and not allow the casinos to prey on this vulnerable population to avoid paying admission taxes. Casinos owners have received "windfall profits" in Illinois. The Legislature does not need to give the casinos any tax breaks.