Waterloo casino opens its wallet, joins Riverside casino

The Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Waterloo has joined the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in contributing to Just Say No Casino in an effort to defeat the March 5 referendum in Linn County on casino gaming.

On Monday, the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission made public a document that shows that the Waterloo casino has informed the commission that it has signed a contract with Just Say No Casino to provide up to $150,000 to the anti-casino group's campaign in Linn County.

This report follows one released by the state commission on Friday that showed that the Riverside casino has reported that it had signed a contract with Just Say No Casino and intended to spend up to $1.5 million to defeat the Linn County casino ballot measure.

The Gazette had sought the documents from the state commission.

Steve Gray, a leading investor in the Cedar Rapids casino proposal, on Monday said he wouldn't be surprised if the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel also might be contributing funds to beat back a Cedar Rapids casino.

State-licensed casinos like in Riverside and Waterloo must report expenditures of more than $100,000 to the state commission, though the Meskwaki casino, which is an Indian casino and does not need a state license, has no such reporting requirements.

The Waterloo and Riverside casinos, which opened in 2007 and 2006 respectively, are funding the anti-casino campaign in Linn County because they believe their business will be harmed if a Cedar Rapids casino is built.