DES PLAINES, Ill. — It is not your typical casino town.
Des Plaines, Illinois is where Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonalds restaurant. It is the home of a school building which provided the backdrop for iconic films, like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club.
With its quiet, historic main street and lack of downtown nightlife, Des Plaines will never be confused with Las Vegas or Atlantic City, yet it plays host to the very wealthy Rivers Casino: the most profitable gambling hall in Illinois and, per capita, one of the most successful casinos in the United States. That’s despite Des Plaines’ sharp lack of wedding chapels, street performers and giant, flashing signs.
You want a sign that Des Plaines is a casino town? Look for the orange traffic cones and construction sites.
“This casino allowed us to get back on course with our water mains, our sewers and road work,” says city manager Michael Bartholomew. “Those things definitely needed attention.”
Bartholomew and other officials in Des Plaines say their community was not necessarily “struggling” after the economic recession of 2008, but there were challenges.
“We had neglected capital expenditures,” says Bartholomew, who joined city government in 2011. “It’s an easy thing to push off for one year.”
One year turned into four or five. In the meantime, Des Plaines suffered several moderate floods when the Des Plaines River crested its banks. The city’s aging drainage system struggled to keep up, and its Water Fund ran up a deficit of more than $2 million dealing with repairs.
In came the casino and its $25 million in annual shared revenue. Then-mayor Marty Moylan and the city council shaped an agreement, sending $10 million to the state each year. What remains – roughly $15 million – is split 60-40, with about $6 million going to ten of Chicago’s needy south and southwest suburbs.
Des Plaines pockets the remaining $9 million. In 2011, city leaders decided to only spend that revenue on capital construction projects, which are controlled one-time costs – “any gambling (revenue) can fluctuate,” says Bartholomew. In the last five years, Des Plaines has transferred part of the city to a new municipal water source, begun a major drainage and road reconstruction project on South River Road, and completed a number of smaller drainage improvement projects. All of it was entirely funded through casino money.
The benefits don’t end there. Aside from the city’s shared revenue agreement, it also collects food and beverage taxes, and property taxes. Nearby hotels have seen their occupancy rates skyrocket, and there is evidence that Rivers Casino draws people to explore Des Plaines, too.
“It’s hard to quantify the spin-off benefit,” says Bartholomew. “But from before the casino was here, to 2015, sales tax has spiked 30 percent.”
Elsewhere, Rivers donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to various community initiatives. The local Chamber of Commerce keeps track of such donations; a list of benefactors includes two local Catholic schools, the Frisbie Senior Center, Des Plaines History Center, the city’s park district and arts council, and the local Kiwanis Club.
The chamber’s main conference room was also renovated with a donation of $60,000. The organization also kicked off a Young Entrepreneur Academy and a separate Entrepreneur Boot Camp, thanks to grants from Rivers Casino.
“They support our annual golf outing, the Park District Fall Fest, they are the corporate sponsor for Taste of Des Plaines,” says chamber president Holly Sorenson. “They really step up and try to be part of the community, and get involved.”
Rivers is also required by the state to provide funding to local school districts. Maine West High School has received 550 Chromebook laptops from the casino for its under-privileged students, and Rivers also funds thirty $1,000 scholarships for Maine West students to attend the local Oakton Community College.
“It’s our culture, to be active in the community,” says Kate McMahon, the former director of community engagement for Rivers Casino-Des Plaines. McMahon is moving to Schenectady, to be the vice-president of human resources at the new casino.
“I hope for the growth that Schenectady is looking for, and I hope to be a part of that,” she says. “It’s going to be my community, too, that I’m involved in.”
Revenue and charity aside, Rivers Casino-Des Plaines often engages in another kind of giving: political donations. The casino, its CEO Greg Carlin and the son of owner Neil Bluhm, Andrew, have donated to several state-level candidates in recent years. Since 2014, the former Des Plaines mayor Marty Moylan has received more than $38,000 from those three donors, in his bids for the state House of Representatives.
“I’m very appreciative of all my donors, but it doesn’t affect my vote,” Moylan told us. “And I generally vote against gaming expansion, and other types of gaming.”
Moylan later acknowledged his votes against gaming expansion do, in fact, help Rivers Casino. The controversial measure in Illinois’ State House could allow more casinos to open nearby, which might impact Rivers’ revenues. Each local and state official whom Time Warner Cable News asked about the gaming expansion bill, said its passage would hurt the revenue numbers, and thereby hurt Des Plaines.
Moylan says all of his votes against gaming expansion are for the residents, not for the casino’s sake.
“I have to protect the revenues for the city of Des Plaines – for my town,” Moylan says.
Further political donations number in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many have been given to candidates whose districts are home to casinos, including those not owned by Rush Street Gaming.
In a statement, Rivers Casino and its ownership company Rush Street Gaming, explained the donations: "Mr. Carlin and Mr. Bluhm were born and raised in Illinois, and have long been active members of the community. As such, they contribute to many organizations and causes, including political campaigns.
"They support a healthy gaming and business environment in the state, and are active in supporting elected officials who share their views."
In Part Three of “All In: A Future with Rivers Casino,” we diagnose the impact of Rivers Casino on problem gambling, and what the casino and state do to help the addicted. Plus: does the casino affect crime rates in Des Plaines? Look for more Wednesday on Time Warner Cable News.