Bally’s, which has been feverishly constructing a $2 billion casino in the River West neighborhood of Chicago scheduled to open next September, threatened Chicago City Council members on Tuesday that legalizing video gaming terminals (VGTs) would create a loss of revenue and a reduction in jobs for the venue.
The criticism lobbed at the Chicago City Council was in response to a group of aldermen submitting an alternative budget to the one proposed by embattled first-term Mayor Brandon Johnson. That alternative budget, which passed out of the Finance Committee by a 22-13 vote on Tuesday, includes $6.8 million in revenue generated solely from licensing fees from legalizing VGTs — the largest source of gaming tax revenue in Illinois but currently barred in Chicago via city ordinance.
