Hardly anyone believes a casino operator would pay an effective tax rate of 72 percent to operate a Chicago casino. But how high could the rate be and still attract bidders?
It's a fair question after a financial analysis released Aug. 13 by the Illinois Gaming Board suggested that the much-anticipated gambling house could be dead on arrival because of "onerous" taxes on the facility imposed by state lawmakers—new taxes that would be so high as to make it impossible to finance the project. The consultancy hired by the Lightfoot administration to analyze five potential sites for the casino found that the tax rate for the casino operator would amount to about 72 percent of the gross, not counting certain operating expenses.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.