Council approves $1.15 million for Keegan Library HVAC from casino land-lease revenue

The Waukegan City Council on Feb. 18 approved a $1,150,000 payment from casino-related land-lease revenue to replace the Keegan Library heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.

The decision followed a multi-hour discussion of the city's revenue allocation plan (RAP), the pool of funds generated by the temporary casino operating in Waukegan. City staff said the RAP contains several revenue streams totaling about $16.5 million as of late February, and proposed a multi-year plan that would allocate most of the balance to risk reserves, infrastructure and other capital needs.

City finance staff told the council the RAP is funded by three main streams: gaming tax receipts (about $317,000 per month based on recent months), admissions tax (about $69,000 per month) and a land-lease payment from the casino operator (about $250,000 per month). Staff presented a set of proposed uses that, taken together, totaled roughly $16.2 million. Those proposed items included a large near-term deposit into the city's risk-management reserve; continuing lead-service-line replacement; engineering services; fixed-asset replacement; phase 1 engineering for Shears Drive; a proposed parking-garage renovation; and Keegan Library building repairs, including HVAC engineering and replacement.

Library leaders and the council emphasized public-service and safety reasons for the replacement. Tiffany (Library Director) told the council the library building's HVAC system is 40 to 50 years old and has been kept working with short-term repairs: "We are band‑aiding all of these repairs," she said, describing the library's limited capital resources.

After extended debate about using wrap money versus TIF dollars or other funds for downtown projects and about long-term redevelopment implications, Alderman Felix moved to allocate $1,150,000 from the casino land-lease revenue for the Keegan Library HVAC. The motion passed on a roll call vote with no dissent recorded.

Council members then voted to delay further decisions on the remaining RAP recommendations until a future meeting so members and staff could address open questions about the development deals, TIF impacts and the sequencing of capital projects.

The council and staff said they will bring the RAP back for further review and final allocations at a later meeting. For now, library HVAC replacement is the only RAP allocation approved by the full council on Feb. 18.

For residents, the immediate effect is that the library can proceed with planning and procurement for HVAC replacement work; staff cautioned that equipment procurement and installation would still require engineering, design and bid processes that could extend over many months.

The council directed staff to return with more detailed schedules and budgets for the remaining RAP items at a subsequent meeting.