Linn County voters will get their say on a proposed Cedar Rapids casino March 5th.
The Linn County Board of Supervisors set that date now to get a gaming referendum that would allow casinos inside the county. That is definitely the date casino developers had requested when they turned in a petition with far more than 16,000 signatures to obtain the referendum around the ballot.
When the referendum passes, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission would still will need to approve a casino license. The commission has denied several current license requests, fearing any new casino will only pull income from existing casinos inside the state.
Casino Developer Steve Gray presented KCRG with research claiming a Cedar Rapids casino would create $80 million dollars a year in revenue. Only $18 million of that would come from existing casinos, based on the study, and the majority of that would com from the Meskwaki Casino, run by the Meskwaki tribe, not the state.
The “Vote Yes Linn County” campaign started running adds this week, claiming a Cedar Rapids casino would produce millions of dollars for the economy and create far more than 600 new jobs.
Opponents argue those claims are unfounded simply because developers have not outlined a lot of specifics from the proposed casino, like attainable places or precise size. They argue casinos unfairly target the poor and attract corruption and crime.
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