No Video Gaming for Lake Zurich

The Lake Zurich Village board voted unanimously against allowing video gaming machines at village businesses, Monday night. The vote came after some residents argued against allowing gambling machines during public comment, arguing that there wasn't much to gain from video gaming, but much to lose.

Trustees said they didn't want the village to be an experiment for gaming, they would rather see how it works out in other villages which have voted to allow video gaming. 

Trustee Rich Sustich said everyone who invests on Wall Street is gambling, so he didn't have an issue with the concept, however, he was concerned about the management of video gaming operations and what impact it might have on the community.

"Should we be at the forefront and produce data for everyone else, or wait to see what is actually involved before we make a decision?" Sustich asked.

Trustee Terry Mastandrea said he's personally in favor of video gaming, but he doesn't think it is what is best for the community.

"There are not enough pros to make my decision to open up to gaming," he said.

Trustee Tom Poynton, who had previously argued in favor of video gaming, said he had done some financial research and, in the best case scenario, the most revenue the village could generate from video gaming is $225,000.

"I don't buy the hysterical arguments against gambling," Poynton said. However, he agreed with Sustich and Mastandrea that the village should watch how video gaming works out in other towns. 

The state prohibited video gaming machines in 2009 to allow time for the Illinois Gaming Board to  create rules and guidelines for their use. The Lake Zurich board followed the state prohibition in 2009.

The IGB has recently made video gaming permissable again, and created Administrative Code Part 1800 that sets forth guidelines on how the devices will be regulated and monitored. 

The village ordinance would have repealed the prohibition on video gaming in the village.