Despite concern over Galesburg’s number of video gaming machines, the City Council appears primed to reject an ordinance that would cap or put a moratorium on the number of terminals locally.
Alderman on Monday unanimously voted to table an ordinance that would amend Chapter 118 of the Galesburg Municipal Code regarding Video Gaming Licenses. The proposed ordinance recommended a moratorium be put in place that would direct City staff not to accept any new applications for video gaming.
The issue will come back to the City Council at the Dec. 2 meeting, however City Manager Eric Hanson told Galesburg’s Morning News he expects neither a moratorium or cap to be implemented.
“There doesn’t seem to be a strong desire for a cap or moratorium,” Hanson said. “I think there is still some concern that video gaming remains completely unregulated in the city, from the standpoint that once an individual gets a liquor license, the entire gaming side is controlled by the state, and not locally.
“There are some operational things we could do where we would have some say or some oversight, just to ensure the facilities are operating correctly. Many communities do that.”
There are currently 33 establishments offering gaming in Galesburg, with a total of 190 gaming terminals within the city. The number of gaming machines in Galesburg ranks higher than cities such as Danville (166), Moline (165), Elgin (165), East Moline (141), East Peoria (136), Normal (111), Urbana (108), Schaumburg (106), Crystal Lake (101) and Rock Island (90).
In other business Monday:
Tax Levy
Alderman unanimous approved the 2024 Property Tax Levy Ordinance. The 2024 tax levy request has been established at $10,453,414 which is an increase of 2.66% when compared to the total amount of the current year tax levy (2023) extension.
Based on the current Estimated Assessed Value (EAV) for the 2024 tax levy, the estimated property tax rate for the City would be approximately $2.433 or $0.010 less than the 2023 tax levy rate. The property tax rate is applied to individual tax bills.
The levy was approved as originally proposed, despite a claim from the treasurer of the Galesburg Public Library Board of Trustees saying failure to fully fund its levy request could indirectly put financial strain on the Galesburg Public Library.
Hanson tells WGIL, “(Mayor Peter Schwartzman) and I had a really good discussion last week with the library director, and board president and treasurer. I think we came to a positive outcome there.
“We discussed some alternative funding sources that could help them with some of the challenges they are facing, and we would be supportive of. The city was just very clear that we’re not raising the city tax rate. That doesn’t mean that just because the levy stays status quo, we can’t work with them to solve some other problems outside of the property tax.”
Cooke Park playground
Also by a 7-0 vote, the Council approved the purchase of playground equipment for Cooke Park, located at the former Cook School. The total cost of the playground equipment, including freight, is $192,488.00. The grant offered by GameTime will provide $81,469.70 in discounted pricing for the purchase of the equipment with the city’s share being $111,018.30.
This purchase also serves as part of the OSLAD funded renovation project at the park; therefore, the City will be reimbursed for 50% of the city’s $111,018.30 local share utilizing the OSLAD grant. City staff recommend approval of the purchase.
Hanson said construction on the Cooke Park project is expected to start in the spring, with completion anticipated to be in the fall of 2025.
