Launched in 2011, Rivers Casino, a glitzy edifice built over a shallow pit of water near the Tri-State Tollway, quickly became the state’s top-grossing riverboat casino, generating more than $400 million annually in gaming revenue.ĭes Plaines’ share of that pot is nearly $70 million of tax revenue, money the city has used for infrastructure projects such as roads, water mains and sewers. With increased competition and shrinking casino revenues, the title - and local tax windfall - may be far less meaningful in the years ahead.
When Des Plaines beat out Waukegan for what was supposed to be the 10th and final casino license in Illinois more than a decade ago, it transformed the northwest suburb, then best known as the home of the first McDonald’s, into the state’s gambling mecca.
