Edwardsville IL debates increasing video gaming in bars

Editor’s observe: This is the primary in a sequence of tales exploring whether or not Edwardsville ought to increase video gaming. Future reporting will study arguments from opponents and the broader group response. 

In cities throughout Madison County, video gaming has change into a routine a part of the native bar scene — and a dependable supply of money for small companies.

Only Edwardsville stays on the sidelines as the one main municipality within the county that prohibits video gaming in native companies, conserving the exercise restricted to fraternal and veterans organizations.

For native restaurant homeowners, that distinction is a rising legal responsibility.

Steve Siebert, the proprietor of Big Daddy’s in Edwardsville, is one in every of a number of native bar and restaurant homeowners pushing metropolis officers to increase gaming to their companies.

“Competitive balance has shifted and with this revenue stream, we would stay competitive with those neighboring communities,” he mentioned.

For companies in communities that permit it, video gaming has change into a dependable, regulated supply of supplemental revenue. The machines — slot-style terminals overseen by the Illinois Gaming Board — are permitted in licensed bars, eating places, truck stops, and fraternal organizations. Profits are cut up between the state, the municipality, the machine operator, and the institution.

Illinois legalized video gaming in 2009, however allowed cities to choose out.

Edwardsville banned video gaming outright till 2020, when the pandemic led metropolis leaders to make a slim exception for the Moose Lodge, Knights of Columbus, and American Legion. That determination — handed after an earlier try failed in a 4-3 council vote — was framed as a lifeline for longtime group organizations struggling by way of lockdowns.

But when restaurant homeowners requested to increase gaming entry to business companies, metropolis officers opted to place the query to voters. A non-binding referendum on the April 2021 ballot failed, with 1,747 voting towards growth and 1,138 in favor. Turnout was simply 17.7%.

Siebert mentioned the timing, coming simply as eating places had been reopening, made it troublesome for homeowners to arrange assist. “We were just trying to get our places back open,” he mentioned.

The April 2021 vote successfully ended any momentum on the time for increasing video gaming to Edwardsville’s business institutions and set the stage for a renewed debate that started on the Oct. 30 Administrative and Community Services Committee assembly at which a number of native restaurant homeowners spoke.

Siebert pointed to the rationale behind the town’s earlier exemption that allowed gaming on the metropolis’s fraternal and veterans organizations.

“They asked for a lifeline, and now we are asking for a lifeline,” he mentioned.

Across the nation, small eating places are struggling. Food costs have outpaced inflation, insurance coverage premiums are up, and working prices usually exceed income. As a end result, many have raised costs whereas seeing fewer prospects — a pattern anticipated to proceed into 2026, in keeping with the National Restaurant Association.

“The revenue stream from gaming would really be helpful to us,” Siebert mentioned.

There is proof for that argument at eating places in close by communities.

“We have been able to keep the prices down,” mentioned Marilyn Hall, the proprietor of Lyle’s Tavern in Maryville, a restaurant six miles south of Big Daddy’s on Illinois 159 and one in every of 5 companies within the village that has video gaming terminals.

Lyle’s Tavern has seen a web terminal revenue of greater than $1.7 million since putting in video gaming terminals, according to data from the Illinois Gaming Board. The enterprise has retained greater than $309,000 in video gaming proceeds after taxes and income sharing with its terminal operator.

“We get more customers now since we have the gaming, and we’ve been able to do improvements to our building — as well as our kitchen,” Hall mentioned. “It’s definitely been a positive.”

That monetary buffer has confirmed useful elsewhere, too. Ryan High, proprietor of Global Brew Tap House — with areas in each O’Fallon and Edwardsville — mentioned video gaming income doesn’t simply assist cowl prices, it delivers a form of profitability most eating places wrestle to achieve.

“If you’re talking $10,000 a month in additional revenue — without any cost of goods sold attached — that’s $10,000 of profit,” he said. “It takes a lot of beers and chicken wings to see a $10,000 a month impact on the bottom line.”

Glen Carbon and O’Fallon each initially resisted video gaming. Glen Carbon voters rejected it in a 2012 referendum, whereas O’Fallon narrowly voted down a proposal to ban it in 2014. But over the previous a number of years, each cities have allowed it below tightly managed guidelines geared toward conserving the machines supplemental — not central — to companies.

Glen Carbon reversed course in 2020 after the pandemic squeezed native eating places. Trustees authorised gaming for sure companies by a 5-1 vote. The village now limits gaming to eating places that earn not less than 51% of their revenue from meals gross sales and has capped the variety of tavern liquor licenses — often known as “pour licenses” — at two. The village at present has approved 4 pour licenses, however won’t exchange two such licenses if current companies give them up.

“We’re not real enamored with (gaming-only operations),” Village Administrator Jamie Bowden mentioned. “That’s how we regulated that.”

Glen Carbon Mayor Bob Marcus, who was a trustee on the time the village allowed video gaming, mentioned the choice has confirmed to be a wise one.

“I was happy to support gaming as a trustee in 2020 in an effort to support our restaurants and fraternal organizations,” he said. “Our restaurants are grateful for the opportunity to have video gaming as an additional attraction for current and prospective customers. They are following the applicable law and regulations, and by all accounts, are having success.”

Since 2020, Glen Carbon has collected greater than $216,000 in municipal share income from video gaming. That cash goes into the village’s common fund.

O’Fallon adopted the same path. After a public vote, the town adopted guidelines requiring companies to carry a liquor license for not less than two years earlier than making use of for gaming, and to generate not less than 50% of income from meals and beverage. Gaming is handled as a special-use zoning designation, and metropolis workers conduct annual audits to make sure compliance.

“The council wanted video gaming to be for businesses that already have proven themselves,” O’Fallon City Administrator Grant Litteken mentioned. The metropolis has obtained greater than $2 million in video gaming income since adopting the ordinance, Illinois Gaming Board knowledge reveals.

As video gaming arrives again for dialogue in Edwardsville, each restaurant homeowners and elected officers have introduced a number of concepts and issues to the desk.

Alderwoman Elizabeth Grant, who chairs the Administrative and Community Services Committee, pitched the thought of one other non-binding referendum for the March 17, 2026, major election poll.

“There were people that came who had urgency,” Grant mentioned through the Nov. 13 ACS assembly. “And so my thought is … that because we set a precedent with this — we asked for the will of the people on a ballot — that’s what we should do again.”

All three aldermen on the committee — Grant, Will Krause, and Andrea Miracle — expressed a willingness to maneuver ahead with video gaming, however provided that voters got an opportunity to indicate the town their opinion had modified for the reason that 2021 referendum.

“I’m willing to re-ask for what the will of the people is,” Grant mentioned. “I’m not willing to go against what the will of the people was in 2021.”

Opponents of gaming have beforehand raised issues about aesthetics, social influence, and whether or not the income justifies the chance — however nobody spoke in opposition throughout current public conferences.

The concept of a referendum on the first poll wasn’t fashionable with restaurant homeowners.

“If the city wants to hear the will of the people, a primary election after a presidential election — which historically has low voter turnout — is not the time,” Siebert, the proprietor of Big Daddy’s, mentioned.

Restaurant homeowners requested for a vote on the November 2026 poll if officers had been intent on having one other referendum.

“I’m here to try to win a referendum vote, so that was why we showed up and expressed our desire for them to just pump the brakes a little bit,” Siebert mentioned through the Nov. 19 interview.

While the mechanics and timing of the referendum dominated a lot of the dialog, Krause additionally raised deeper questions concerning the broader results of video gaming on the town’s financial system.

“People have only so much money in their pocketbooks,” he mentioned through the Oct. 30 ACS assembly. “If you’re spending X amount of dollars on video gaming, from a municipal perspective, will that decrease our money in, say, just regular sales tax or food and beverage?”

According to a 2022 evaluation within the Illinois Municipal Policy Journal, knowledge reveals that municipalities see about $6 in additional retail spending for every $1 lost to video gaming. That conclusion was drawn from all Illinois cities from 2012-2019.

In the Metro East, knowledge from the Illinois Department of Revenue reveals a steady increase in municipal sales tax revenue for close by communities that permit video gaming from Fiscal Year 2020 to Fiscal Year 2025.

That quantity features a 124.45% improve in that point interval for Maryville, a 49.25% improve for Glen Carbon, and a 30.53% improve in O’Fallon. Edwardsville noticed a 53.58% improve in municipal gross sales tax in the identical interval.

One resident who attended the Nov. 13 ACS assembly advised the committee he wish to see the town take steps to usher in extra income that does not require tax will increase.

“I would rather see us create a new revenue stream than continue to see my property taxes go up or continue to pay more in city fees,” he said. “This is something other towns around us are already doing successfully, and I think we should be open to it as long as it’s regulated.”

Edwardsville’s bar and restaurant homeowners are pushing for restrictions on video gaming ought to the town increase it to their companies.

“I think that regulation has to be a part of the process,” Siebert mentioned. “That’s paramount to our success is have these things in place.”

Restaurant homeowners favor adopting restrictions like these in Glen Carbon and O’Fallon.

The most extreme restriction would require gaming to be positioned in a non-public or semiprivate space to respect buyer preferences, a regulation extra restrictive than both of the close by communities.

“I think it will allow people some comfort and freedom,” Siebert mentioned. “If it’s not so visible, their reluctance to come into any place will not be hindered by the visibility of it.”

High, the proprietor of Global Brew Tap House, echoed that sentiment. His O’Fallon location has gaming machines tucked right into a partitioned space — an strategy he mentioned prospects have responded to positively.

“If you’re not a fan of it, you walk in, you’re really not going to see the machines the way we have them partitioned off,” he mentioned.

Owners additionally wish to require institutions to have a liquor license for not less than two years earlier than being allowed to use for video gaming.

“That deters people who want to try and cheat the rules,” Siebert mentioned. “That incentivizes your business partners to invest in this community, invest in their businesses.”

Additional laws would come with requiring not less than 50% of a enterprise’s income to come back from meals and beverage gross sales, banning gaming parlors and cafes, and never permitting gaming at fuel stations.

“This is a citywide quality of life requirement that everyone should be on board with,” Siebert mentioned.

Bar homeowners are additionally pushing for O’Fallon-style restrictions on signage.

Alderman Krause mentioned that if the town expands gaming to bars and eating places, it should not include loads of restrictions.

“If we’re going to allow it, we should allow it,” he mentioned through the Nov. 13 assembly. “I’m not for the flashing dancing signs sort of things, but I think obviously you have to advertise if you have slots for gaming. So if you’re going to have it, I think we should have it. And the idea that maybe it’s hidden away or something, I don’t know if I’m really cool with that.”

Siebert mentioned he disagreed with Krause’s strategy.

“In this instance, restriction and caution must be used to keep the quality of the town intact and to protect the town,” he said.

High also said he thought regulation was necessary to ensure video gaming was done right.

“Let’s make it nice. Let’s not impact those who aren’t fans of it and just make sure we maintain the integrity of the business — of what people are used to coming into,” he mentioned.

Even if voters or metropolis officers determine to permit video gaming, it wouldn’t occur in a single day. If a referendum seems on the November 2026 poll, terminals possible wouldn’t arrive in native eating places till late 2027 or early 2028.

The first step could be passing an ordinance outlining how gaming could be regulated in Edwardsville.

“There is no set timetable or one-size-fits-all process for approving a city ordinance. It is a legislative activity of the City Council,” mentioned City Attorney Jeff Berkbigler.

Typically, as soon as a draft ordinance is launched, it goes to the suitable council committee for overview, then on to the complete City Council for a primary studying. The following week, it normally returns to the committee for revisions earlier than heading again to the council for a second studying and last vote. If handed, it turns into legislation 10 days after publication.

That timeline, nonetheless, just isn’t assured. “Items can be held at committee or tabled until further information becomes available or questions are answered,” Berkbigler mentioned. “So there can be great variance in the minimum amount of time to pass an ordinance and the maximum time it could take.”

Even after metropolis approval, native eating places would wish to use for and obtain a license from the Illinois Gaming Board — a course of that may take longer than candidates anticipate.

According to the board, candidates should first maintain a liquor license, then full an in depth utility that features background checks, web site inspections, and municipal sign-off. How lengthy it takes can differ relying on how rapidly companies reply to state requests or whether or not extra scrutiny is required.

High mentioned he submitted an utility for Global Brew’s location in O’Fallon in March and continues to be ready.

“We really were under the impression that it was going to be about a four- to five-month process, not this long,” he mentioned. As of mid-November, his utility was nonetheless pending, with a board vote anticipated in December.

City officers say the dialog is much from over. Future conferences — and presumably a referendum — are anticipated to convey broader public debate, together with from residents and leaders who oppose growth.

After enterprise homeowners pushed again on having a video gaming referendum in March, the ACS committee voted to desk additional dialogue to its subsequent assembly on Nov. 25.

That determination was designed to present restaurant homeowners an opportunity to determine how you can transfer ahead, but it surely does appear possible that the town would require a referendum earlier than taking any motion on gaming growth.

“I know that’s not the wish, but that’s what we’re willing to offer,” Alderwoman Grant mentioned through the Nov. 13 assembly.

Siebert mentioned he and different restaurant homeowners are more likely to push for the referendum to look on the November 2026 poll — not the March major — to permit extra time to construct assist.

“If it was in March, it would be rushed,” he mentioned. “If it’s in November, we can do it the right way.”

Over the following 12 months, he mentioned, homeowners plan to speak immediately with residents to make the case that gaming might assist stabilize Edwardsville’s restaurant scene.

“I don’t want to say (the industry’s future) is in the balance,” Siebert mentioned, “but I do believe this revenue stream is important for the dining scene in this city.”