Sen. Terry Link stays with Park City as casino location

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Sen. Terry Link.

Updated: March 8, 2012 8:11AM

With negotiations on a revised gaming-expansion proposal expected to start this week, state Sen. Terry Link, chairman of the Senate gaming committee, told the Waukegan City Council on Monday that he is sticking with Park City as the location for a prospective Lake County casino.

Link, invited by Waukegan officials to address the status of Illinois gaming, told aldermen that he’s not put off by Gov. Pat Quinn’s remarks last fall he would support a license for Lake County but “not Park City.”

“The governor has no authority to write legislation,” Link said during a wide-ranging, hourlong discussion. “He can make suggestions, (but) I’m the sponsor of the bill, and I’m deciding where it’s going to go.

“If I was to change it and say ‘Lake County,’ it won’t be in Waukegan, because you will have every community in the county fighting you tooth and nail,” Link added. “You saw your record with the (Illinois) Gaming Board. ... I’m not going to let this area get beat again.”

At one point, asked by 1st Ward Ald. Sam Cunningham if it’s still possible for Waukegan to be written into the bill, Link responded “if the whole thing was reversed, would you want me to come here and say, ‘We’re taking it away from you, (and) we’re giving it to Park City’?”

Link added that his read on the governor’s current position is that he’s “not on board with slots at the (race) tracks,” but a Park City casino would not hold up an overall bill. According to Link, the governor’s line-item veto authority could not be used to deny a single proposed license within a package of host communities like the one proposed last spring.

“There will be a (revised) gaming bill in the very near future,” said Link, adding that Waukegan will benefit in any event, receiving a proposed 50 percent of adjusted gross gaming receipts from a Park City casino, or about 5 percent of a facility’s post-payout income.

“You basically are going to get 50 percent to do nothing,” Link said. “At the end of the year, you’ll get a $5 million check handed to you (without) all the headaches.”

Local attorney Michael Melius questioned Park City’s ability to handle those headaches, saying a community of 10,000 would be hard-pressed to provide necessary public safety and infrastructure services.

“Waukegan is in a position to more quickly provide those services,” said Melius, noting that the host community would also benefit from property taxes and food-and-beverage taxes. “To say that ‘Waukegan had your shot,’ (I) think that is wrong, and is the wrong way to look at it.”

While aldermen generally did not challenge Link’s position on Park City, 3rd Ward Ald. Gregory Moisio asked him to keep Waukegan’s 30-acre Fountain Square location on the table.

“We have the best spot. It’s shovel-ready, and it has one owner,” Moisio said. “If the state wants money quick — and God knows you need money — we have a site (you) could build on this spring.”

“If we can’t get it here,” 9th Ward Ald. Rafael Rivera said, “let’s get the best possible deal.”

“It makes no difference to me where it goes,” Link said. “All I care about is that it goes up here in this area.”