Iowa panel to declare number of new licenses

David Pitt

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- After months of keeping their opinions on new licenses to themselves, the time is approaching for members of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to show their hand on who will get new casino licenses.

The state's five gambling commissioners have toured the state, listened to lengthy sales pitches, reviewed criminal background reports and read studies on gambling.

They are scheduled to hear public comment on gambling expansion at a public hearing today and will for the first time express their opinions on how many licenses they'd like to see approved.

"They'll each give their philosophy or opinions on what they feel is an appropriate number," said Jack Ketterer, the appointed commission's full-time administrator.

The commission has the option of considering a motion on the number of licenses they'll approve, or only discuss the issue and make a final decision at a meeting scheduled for May 11, he said.

Seven Iowa communities have proposed 10 different casino projects -- three in Waterloo, two in Emmetsburg and one each in Fort Dodge, Riverside, Ottumwa, Worth County and Franklin County.

Today's meeting is likely to be heavily attended by gambling opponents since this is the only meeting in the process designed to gather their input, Ketterer said.

"These are people not affiliated with the applicants. It will probably be a larger percentage of people in this group opposed in some way to one or more of the applications or projects," Ketterer said.

The commission will also have an opportunity to question each of the applicants about their proposals.

Among the studies the commission has reviewed was one completed by professors from the University of Northern Iowa. Deepak Chhabra and Gene Lutz studied perceptions of Iowa residents and looked at historic trends.

Chhabra reported to commissioners in a brief meeting Tuesday evening that a majority of Iowans surveyed believe there is a "significant association" between casino gambling and bankruptcy filings. She indicated, however, that the study provided no hard evidence of a correlation.

The study also may suggest a higher crime rate in counties with casinos, although Chhabra said more research is needed on that subject to be sure.

The positive impact of casino gambling on the state includes the $3.5 billion casinos contribute to the state's economy and the 34,464 jobs they created, the study said.

Casinos paid $249 million in local, county and state taxes in 2003 and contributed $10 million to nonprofit organizations, according to the study.

Commissioner Mike Mahaffey, an opponent of gambling expansion, said the information about crime and bankruptcies reinforces what he believes are social problems caused by gambling.

"As a small town lawyer who also serves as a part-time county attorney, there are some things in there that strike home to me," he said.

Mahaffey's preference is for no more gambling licenses, but he said the majority of commissioners likely will support additional casinos.

"I guess the question is maybe it's going to be two or three or four or five or something like that," he said.