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County Committee Bets on Video Gaming
The Knox County Board will be asked next week to formally go ahead with video gaming.

That's because the County Board Finance Committee Tuesday voted to approve recommending establishing video gaming in unincorporated areas of the county at bars and other similar establishments.

Counties collect five percent of the revenue from the machines, but County Board Chairman Greg Bacon tells WGIL that doesn't mean the county can expect a windfall.

"We bandied around a few numbers last month, some preliminary figures," Bacon said. "But I wanted to stress to [the committee] that this is a whole new ball game. We've never done this before. Nobody's ever done it like this. It's just to be a little cautions, and not get -- we don't know how much money it's going to bring in. We have no clue."

State law indicates up to five machines can go into any establishment, but Bacon says he doesn't know how many establishments will do that. He does say he's heard from plenty of bar owners that want machines, but he's heard from virtually no one else.

The video gaming legislation was to help pay for the state's capital construction bill, but has been mired in legal wrangling ever since.
08 23 12 by Newsroom
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