“If they want a new casino, they should pay for it themselves,” said Aurora resident David Cannon.Ĭhris Minick, the city’s finance director, said that while general obligation bonds are often used for public buildings, economic development is also “a recognized activity” for general obligation bonds. Others said they considered general obligation bonds to be used for building things like schools or other public buildings, not for a private casino.ĭavid Cannon, an opponent of the proposed redevelopment plan between the city of Aurora and Hollywood Casino, uses a giant check to demonstrate his opposition to the city's proposed bond sale that would be part of the development plan. “What I’m against is this $60 million handout,” he said. John Laesch, a former East Aurora School Board member, told aldermen he sees the situation as one “where the house wins and the taxpayers lose.” The city would include the first two years of debt service in the actual bonds to pay for the two years before the TIF district begins generating the tax increment.īut some opponents of the city’s deal spoke to City Council members this week opposing passage of the bonds in particular, saying because Penn Entertainment is a multi-billion dollar company, it does not need the city’s money. The bond would be for about $58 million, because the agreement gives Hollywood Casino two years before having to start paying for the debt. “And again, the city and taxpayer will not be out of pocket,” Dibo said.

With a tax increment financing district on that property, it could be used to pay the debt service on the bonds incurred by the city.ĭavid Dibo, director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, said servicing the loan from the money created in the TIF district means “the city itself will not pay for the bonds out of pocket.”Īccording to the agreement, if the TIF district fails to raise the money expected to pay for bond service, Hollywood Casino would make up the difference, thus paying for the repayment of the bonds. It also would relinquish any leases it has on the two casino parking lots downtown and the office space in them to make those buildings city-controlled.Ĭity officials said the current empty lots along Farnsworth generate about $150,000 a year in property taxes, but that could increase to about $5 million when the casino is built.

Penn Entertainment would not only spend more than $300 million to build the new casino, but it would agree to demolish the existing casino building downtown and transfer the pad it was built on to the city.

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