ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A proposal to provide $200,000 in public funding for a new McDonald’s on West State Street failed Monday night in a narrow 3–2 vote by the Planning & Development Committee.
The funding would have come from the city’s Casino Economic Development High-Risk Area Fund, which uses casino revenue to encourage investment in neighborhoods that have historically struggled to attract private development.
Supporters argued the incentive was key to closing a financial gap for the project, which aimed to bring a McDonald’s to the intersection of West State and Springfield Avenue, a corridor the city has spent millions to improve…