Homewood trustees voted Tuesday night to take the next step towards developing a casino along with the Village of East Hazel Crest.
Two agenda items now help to set the stage for a potential future casino development. The first is an intergovernmental revenue sharing agreement between Homewood and the Village of East Hazel Crest. As the larger property holder, East Hazel Crest will be receiving 55 percent of proceeds, leaving Homewood with the remaining 45 percent.
Trustees also voted to hire law firm Barnes & Thornburg to solicit interest from casino businesses. Homewood Village President Richard Hofeld says the firm employs statisticians and financial analysts to determine the best, most profitable choice for the villages. This is a favorable means to partner with a casino for proposal, he says.
Homewood agreed to spend no more than $135,000 for legal fees. East Hazel Crest is expected to agree to a slightly higher spending cap. Should the villages decide to partner with a casino, the casino will reimburse both governments for 100 percent of the legal costs incurred, regardless of whether the project succeeds or fails.
Just the first step ...
The reality of a local casino is still a long way off, however, and trustees want residents to know their opinion counts.
“I think there’s a lot of concern that we’re trying to get this run through without having any public input,” said Trustee Tom Kataras. “We’re going to have public hearings. This is not a slam-dunk thing."
Village President Richard Hofeld says the village started thinking about a potential casino over two years ago when both Homewood and East Hazel Crest were looking for options to develop the land just southwest of I-294 and Halsted Street. Land developers told the village no large-scale retail stores were suitable for the location, Hofeld said—but a casino is.
Trustee Anne Colton helped to clarified the board’s current position for residents who may be off-put by the news.
“What we have to do is, we have to examine every possibility. We have to examine every opportunity that we have as a village to maintain and preserve our community,” Colton said. “So that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re just looking and we’re definitely going to have informational sessions within the next month or two.”
The aforementioned meeting will be held sometime in December, according to Hofeld. Both law firm Barnes & Thornburg and lobbyists will be present to answer questions, he says.
Perhaps the most pressing issue, though, is that there is not yet a South Suburban casino license available. But that’s not dissuading Hofeld.
“We’ve been told that this is a very opportune time for the legislation to pass in the veto session,” he said.
Should legislation pass and a license becomes available, there are still other obstacles, such as other proposals for South Suburban casinos. In the case of Country Club Hills, their proposal partner —claiming that Country Club Hills remains the ideal location for a casino. Not so, says Hofeld.
“I’m sure everyone feels that they have the best game in town, we know we have the best,” he said.
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The only thing I know for sure is state government should stay out of the gambling regulation business (and regulation of business in general). Let private business decide where they want to invest for profitable returns.
These "economic development" schemes never, ever work out for the taxpayers. The costs to the taxpayers always outweigh the benefits, if any. The jobs that are created, if any, are for minimum wage. Usually the new, tax-subsidized business drives established community (and tax-paying) businesses out of business. What kind of TIF subsidies will this nightmare require? How much additional police protection? Ambulance calls to scoop up old ladies who keel over next to the slot machines? Ask anyone in Bridgeview about Toyota Park and the marvelous benefit that it has been to the community.
Your one chance to contribute something meaningful here and you blew it. Woof.
I noticed you are saying “your town” maybe you should worry about your own town and not tell us what we should think or how we should deal with this.
I think you know why. Unlike most, I don't believe having an opinion on something (or everything it seems) has any real value. Now, an informed, thoughtful, researched position is a different matter. This deserves respect, consideration, and maybe even a response in kind. And now to your request. Viable information. Find the paper "Casinos and crimes in the USA" by Douglas M. Walker. I'm not going to quote anything here because a high percentage of Path posters only want to continue believing what they already believe. For them, data and research means little especially if it challenges their beliefs.
"Your" is merely a typo...neighbor. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on this matter regardless of where they live. It impacts all the surrounding towns. No need to be condescending.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-03/news/ct-tl-1004-homewood-property-20121003_1_vacant-properties-village-board-homewood-plans
The same protestors concerns on schools and boogeymen, exact same hysteria and hand wringing by the phonies of Homewodd. A Casino on Halsted would be like hitting the lotto for the 2 towns, this has location and the best Police Dept in the So burbs which will be bigger and better with the needed revenue and like Joliet will have the resources to rebuild a aging infrastructure and add new great ideas, remember the abandoned plans for new housing at G-L BANK downtown back in the BUSH years? Wake up Homewood the water rates are going to keep climbing what other Business will bring this scale of jobs and resources so badly needed to your village? Who in this time will settle in Homewood due to the rising costs and demand for water in a time of drought and low lake levels especially. The Mayors and council who have proposed this should be honored, can u imagine what Dwight Welch would do with a location on 1-80-294 & Halsted? What a bunch of rhubarbs and phonies these new HOMEWODD people are!
"Will gambling bring increases in crime? Study after study shows there is no correlation between legalized gaming and an increase in crime rates. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences and the University of Chicago National Research Council all came to this same conclusion. The Governmental Accounting Office (GAO) also reports there is no link between video gaming and an increase in crime rates, social problems or bankruptcy." Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2012/10/20/2367188/pro-industry-is-regulated-wont.html#storylink=cpy