The Atlanta City Council voted Monday to take a gamble in support of a plan to put video lottery machines in Underground Atlanta.
Proponents say the machines would bring about $350 million a year to the region. Dan O’Leary, who runs Underground Atlanta, came to City Hall last month seeking the council’s support for the project, which must ultimately be approved by the Georgia Lottery Board. The board has taken no official position on the plan.
The Underground Atlanta leaseholders’ plan, released in January, calls for a $450 million “video lottery” casino and 29-story hotel. Mayor Shirley Franklin wrote a letter to O’Leary late last year saying she supports the concept.
State law prohibits Las Vegas-style casinos with card games like poker. But the lottery’s charter does not expressly prohibit video lottery terminals. The terminals look like slot machines, but operate like scratch-off tickets that the lottery already sells, such as “Slots of luck” and “Hold ‘em poker.”
Critics argue that states with gambling have had increases in crime, personal bankruptcies and divorce. Supporters counter that half of the proceeds would go to the state’s HOPE scholarship program. The city, O’Leary has said, could collect $3 million a year in taxes from hotel and motel guests, along with increased sales taxes and an undetermined cut of the profits.
Labels: city of atlanta, lottery machines, underground atlanta
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 5:15 PM
