News
Monday, July 11, 2016
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City Council to discuss video game regulations
Madison Kacer | Northern Star
KJ’s Bar & Grill, located at 518 E Lincoln Highway, also offers video gaming for its customers. The restaurants gaming is not its primary source of business. Leah Nicolini Staff writer
DeKalb | The opening of two video gaming businesses and three more seeking approval in the last three months has DeKalb exploring regulations on video
gaming terminals. Tonight, City Council will discuss regulating video gaming focused businesses by limiting the number of licenses given out to the gaming industry at 5 p.m. in the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200
South Fourth St. “I think [having many businesses dedicated to video game terminals] detracts from the overall character of the community,” Mayor John Rey said. “I prefer the community not be known for bars and gaming
as the primary source of business.” Fifteen businesses in DeKalb have video gaming terminals as an accessory, meaning the games are secondary to the business operations. The majority of the businesses are bars, but industries like golf courses also own the games, according to the July 11 Committee of the Whole agenda. Including the four locations that primarily operate as video gaming terminals, DeKalb has 88 machines, according to the July 11 Committee of the Whole agenda. “The city has enough gaming terminals, and I’d hate to see a lot more open up,” 4th Ward Alderman Bob Snow said. As of May, more than $15 million has been bet in video game terminals in DeKalb this year. Of that money spent, players won $14 million, the state earned $319,672 in taxes and DeKalb received $63,934 in taxes, according to the Illinois Gaming Board’s website. To regulate the number of primary gaming businesses, options include permitting certain zoning districts for that industry, designating the industry as special use, meaning that the Planning and Zoning Commission would approve the business on an individual basis or creating minimum separation requirements, meaning that a certain number of that
business would be allowed per multi-tenant center.
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I think the original intent was that [the gaming terminal] would open up in restaurants John Rey DeKalb mayor
Also proposed as a method of regulation is to amend the Unified Development Ordinance to allow gaming terminals only as accessories to businesses, according to the July 11 Committee of the Whole agenda. Of the 1,497 municipalities in Illinois, 150 do not allow video gaming terminals and 37 municipalities limit the number of terminals, according to the Illinois Gaming Board’s website. “I think the original intent was that [the gaming terminal] would open up in restaurants,” Snow said. During the City Council regular meeting, the Council will vote to raise the cost for the one-time application fee for a gaming terminal and the annual renewal fee. Currently, both fees are $25 and the proposed fee is $250, which is $250 less than originally proposed by city staff. If approved, this will generate an additional revenue of $17,775, according to July 11 City Council agenda.
Illinois court fees rising to cover special program costs The Associated Press
Springfield | Court fees and fines
in Illinois have become bloated over the years with surcharges to pay for programs and services, resulting in steep increases to what people pay in civil and criminal cases, according to a new report.
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What happens is every special interest group, if you will, has a really good idea and they say, “My very good idea will only cost a $5 billing fee. And no one really tallied them up.” Steven Anderson Republican Representative
Sometimes the added surcharges fund things unrelated to a case, such as law libraries, zero-interest loans for fire departments to buy new trucks, and waiting rooms for children while their parents are in court. In a recent case in central Illinois’ McLean County, for example, a DUI offender paid $1,742 in fees distributed across 25 state and local funds, including a Children’s Advocacy Center and a Fire Prevention Fund. Only about 8 percent of what was paid went to
actual court costs related to the case. And the amounts people pay vary widely from county to county. In southern Illinois’ Macoupin County, a DUI costs $344. The findings come from the Statutory Court Fee Task Force, which was created by the Illinois Legislature. The group released its report in late June after a yearlong study by lawmakers, circuit court clerks, and judges who were part of the 15-member panel. The report highlights another aspect of the swollen bureaucracy in Illinois, a state with the most units of government in the nation — everything from park districts to counties and townships. “What happens is every special interest group, if you will, has a really good idea and they say, ‘My very good idea will only cost a $5 filing fee,” said Republican Rep. Steven Andersson, a lawmaker on the task force. “And no one really tallied them up.” As the state has struggled financially over time, the fees have become an enticing way to pay for things. But the special interest additions are not the only reason for the growth and county-by-county difference in fees. Not every county adopts every fee, and the state gives
Other report findings
- In Kane County, the maximum fee to file a civil case grew from $220 in 2000 to $358 in 2015, a figure that can near or exceed dollar amounts at stake in a small claims dispute, the report said. - In DuPage County, the fees paid for a DUI skyrocketed from $300 in 1995 to $2,172 in 2015, with the number of add-ons increasing from nine to 27. local governments some discretion in setting them by allowing wide minimum and maximum ranges. Base fee amounts also vary depending on a county’s population size. The report did not calculate the total amount the state has collected from the fines and fees. Andersson acknowledges he’s responsible for contributing to the rising fees without having a clear picture of the final tally. Last year, as a freshman legislator, he sponsored legislation that passed to allow Kane County to impose up to $30 in civil and criminal matters for the construction of new judicial facilities.
The Associated Press
Illinois representative Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, speaks at a news conference at the Illinois State Capital in Springfield.
The task force Andersson was a part of made several recommendations to lawmakers to overhaul what the report calls a “byzantine system” of fees that has expanded over more than a decade, codified in more than
a dozen places in the state’s law books. “They’re just spread all over the place so there’s nothing cohesive or understandable about it,” said Rep. Elain Nekritz, a Democratic lawmaker and member of the task force.
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