Gambling vote not likely to change status quo

Voters in 18 Iowa counties will consider Tuesday whether they want gambling within their county lines.

Fourteen of those counties already have casinos, but Iowa law requires gambling referenda every eight years. Although voters have never voted out an existing gaming operation, supporters say there is too much riding on the vote to take it for granted.

“We've been educating voters that they need to go out and vote,” said Dan Franz, general manager of the Riverside Casino in Washington County. “We're trying to remind the public about some of the good things that having a casino resort in the community does.”

The Riverside Casino, opened in 2006, employs 750 people and pays about $2 million a year in property taxes, Franz said. The casino also pays Washington County and the city of Riverside each about $450,000 a year in gaming taxes, he said.

Iowa's casino operators are running newspaper ads, sending mailings, speaking to civic groups and knocking on doors in their communities to remind people to flip over the ballot to vote “yes”.

Riverside supporters are getting a much better response in the community than they did in 2004, when there was a large and vocal group that opposed gambling in Washington County, said Sharon Hasselhof, public relations director for the casino.

That year, a gambling referendum in Washington County passed by just 52 percent.

Six years later, county residents have come around to the casino, Hasselhof said. “We blew them away with the type of resort we built,” she said. “We get a lot of thank yous.”

Tom Coates, executive director of Consumer Credit of Des Moines, said people who live in gaming communities need to consider the source of money flowing from casinos.

“About half the money they take in is from problem or pathological gamblers,” Coates said. “These are the ones who lose their jobs, lose their families, lose their freedoms and sometimes lose their lives. The rest of us end up paying the bills.”

Jackson, Lee, Wapello and Webster counties do not have casinos, but will vote on the gambling referendum in case future opportunities arise. Tama and Franklin counties, which lost previous bids for state gambling licenses, decided not to put the measure on the ballot.

If voters in a county with a casino vote down the gambling measure, the gaming facility would have to cease operation at the end of their current license, which is March 31 for boats and casinos, Ketterer said. However, if a casino has been in operation for less than nine years, it is allowed to remain open until nine years after licensure - even with a county vote against gambling, he said.

The following counties, listed with existing casinos, will have gambling referenda on Tuesday's ballots.

Black Hawk-Isle of Capri Waterloo

Clarke-Terrible's Lakeside Casino Resort

Clayton-Isle of Capri Marquette

Clinton-Wild Rose Clinton

Des Moines-Catfish Bend Casino

Dubuque-Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino, Diamond Jo Casino

Jackson

Lee

Lyon-Grand Falls Casino Resort

Palo Alto-Wild Rose Emmetsburg

Polk-Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino

Pottawattamie-Harrah's, Ameristar Casino & Hotel, Horseshoe Casino and Bluffs Run Greyhound Park

Scott-Isle of Capri Bettendorf, Rhythm City Casino

Wapello

Washington-Riverside Casino

Webster

Woodbury-Argosy IV

Worth-Diamond Jo Worth