EAST ST. LOUIS – East St. Louis was financially struggling before the coronavirus crisis but now things are worse. It is no longer getting tax revenue from its biggest source of income, the Casino Queen.
The city received some $700,000 from the casino. But the boat is now closed along with most of the businesses in the city because of the measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
For East St. Louis, the situation is dire. It closed the city hall and changed work schedules to save money.
It may have to make layoffs.
The city is getting some residual income from the casino, but that’s money from last year and earlier this year. That funding is running out.
The mayor is hoping for a break.
East St. Louis is now part of a coalition of riverboat cities hoping to get the governor to dole out some of the stimulus money to help make up some of the shortfalls in casino revenue.
