By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Don’t expect to see the Elgin City Council pull the video gaming issue off the shelf tonight after voting to table the issue two weeks ago.

The issue was left off the agenda for Wednesday’s City Council meeting, largely because no one on the council indicated a desire to pull it off the table yet. That largely reflects the city administration’s wait for word from the state about whether the city has the option of implementing video gaming on a limited basis, with an eye toward allowing fraternal organizations to offer it.

The state law gives local governments the option of allowing or disallowing video gaming. The law allows video gaming in:

• Licensed establishments run by fraternal organizations.
• Licensed establishments such as bars and restaurants.
• Licensed veterans organizations chartered from a national veterans organization.
• Licensed truck-stop establishments of at least three acres with a convenience store and with separate diesel islands for fueling and parking commercial motor vehicles.

Elgin already has ordinances that forbid the devices, which the state legalized in 2009 but had not allowed until the Illinois Gaming Board set up regulations for their use. The gaming board completed its regulations only recently. Since then, some suburban communities that previously had taken stands against video gaming are reconsidering the issue at a time of dwindling revenues.

City officials have said that if the City Council were to allow use of the devices, August would be the earliest the gambling devices could be in service.