Du Quoin dreams of a jackpot

The Du Quoin city council took a shot this week, to guarantee if there are more municipal taxes to be had out of the gambling machines in town, the city would be in a position to collect them.

The council passed a "push" tax, so called because every time a gambler at a Du Quoin slot machine sets a spin in motion (by pushing a button), the city would be owed a penny in taxes.

Mayor Guy Alongi said there was around $43 million bet in a 12-month period in Du Quoin.

"If an average bet is $1, then there were 43 million 'pushes,'" he explained. "For us, that would mean $430,000."

In perspective, in 2019 Du Quoin collected $116,147 in gaming revenue. That dropped to $99,651 in 2020, when slots were shut down for several months during the worst of the pandemic. So far in 2021, the city has collected $89,163, which would indicate a higher than usual return by the end of the year.

However, there's no guarantee that the "push tax" will survive a lawsuit brought by the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association against the city of Oak Lawn, a southwest Chicago suburb that initiated the push tax there.

The Illinois Municipal League is urging its member communities to pass "push tax" legislation now, because once the lawsuit is decided no new communities can sign up for it.

The mayor and commissioners also debated how it would spend such a windfall, if it comes, deciding that Du Quoin Police, Du Quoin Fire and Du Quoin Tourism would each get a third of the annual take.