- Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is considering a new tax on every slot machine and video poker game in the county as she puts the final touches on the budget proposal she will present Thursday, aides said.
Owners of gambling devices would be required to buy an $800 sticker to place on each machine. Next year, the tax could generate a bit more than $1 million, a relatively small sum in comparison to the $115 million hole Preckwinkle must plug to balance her budget.
The slot machine tax is in keeping with the same philosophy Preckwinkle applied last week to a potential tax on guns and bullets — a way to generate money to help the county deal with problems caused by a particular product.
Yeah, and then Preckwinkle is going to be dealing with another local phenomenon - increased unemployment. Look at the ammo tax she's proposing - the few remaining gun shops in suburban Cook County will just close up and move out. We're sure the number is under ten. And the sporting good stores might just stop carrying ammo at all if they aren't selling it.
The tax on gaming machines is already a losing proposition when you read this other article:
- As Mayor Rahm Emanuel pursues efforts to win a cash-generating casino for Chicago, public support for a major gambling expansion in Illinois has faded, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
The survey results show growing opposition to new casinos and video slots at horse racing tracks, contrasting sharply with a similar poll conducted in February. The latest poll findings also appear to show that voters back Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to veto the legislature's latest gambling expansion bill in August.
Lawmakers have twice approved measures to allow five new gambling palaces for Chicago, Rockford, Danville, the south suburbs and Park City in Lake County, but Quinn has raised many concerns to block the measures.
Support for gambling to bail Illinois out of its problems has dropped to 43% and shows no signs of regaining the momentum it had a year ago. Not good news for Rahm or Quinn. Or connected investors like the Outfit.