UPDATE: City of Rockford says video gaming numbers were not from a full report

Updated February 13, 2018, 1:54 p.m.

UPDATE: ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - The city of Rockford says the report given on video gaming revenue Monday night was not a full report on overall city revenue from the machines.

The city says the initial report discussed was on revenue from new conditional liquor licenses. Those licenses require 50 percent of the establishment's revenue come from food, alcohol and the sale of general merchandise.

Leaders say in 2017 approximately $1.5 million was collected from video gaming. City council plan to use the funds to pay for vehicle replacements. The city says it also uses the funds to pay annual lease payments with the general fund covering the difference between total payments due and gaming revenue received. In 2017, lease payments came to a total of $3.4 million of which $1.5 million was paid with video gaming revenue and $1.9 million was paid by the general fund.

The city says, as of 2017, there were 459 video gaming machines at 95 establishments in Rockford. A $25 licensing fee is charged to the establishments each year which goes into the general fund to pay for general operations.

To see the video gaming report

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Posted February 12, 2018, 9:59 p.m.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) -- Many city of Rockford leaders are raising concerns after some video gaming machines around the city don't cash out as expected.

The Liquor and Tobacco Advisory Board shared numbers coming from video gaming machines from the two last quarters of 2017, leaving some aldermen in shock at the low number from the gaming machines revenue.

A look of concern on Alderman Frank Beach's face when he heard the amount the new machines brought in. Confusion arose among aldermen when the board's report estimated the revenue from the machines was only about $10,000, an estimate way lower than what aldermen thought those machines would have brought in.

"That's not a right number either in my opinion. I mean you can't tell me with 35 machines, in the last six months, that's the only thing the city got was $10,000. That doesn't make any sense at all and I really want to see what the numbers are," said Alderman Frank Beach

Alderman Beach thinks the numbers are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and believes this to be an error. The Liquor and Tobacco Advisory Board says they are going to review the numbers and bring back a full report for next week's meeting.

Revenue from those video gaming machines goes into a fund to finance city vehicles' maintenance and replacement.