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It's better than nothing, but just barely.
The Birmingham City Council voted this week to slap a moratorium on business licenses for new adult arcades, those places where gamblers can play electronic sweepstakes machines until they're broke.
But the city should - and could - do much more.
The problem is that Birmingham leaders have dragged their feet on the issue for so long, there already are thousands of gambling machines out there operating.
Other cities in the area quickly put high fees and taxes on the gambling machines, so many of the arcade owners swarmed into Birmingham, which has no gambling tax and only paltry fees, to set up shop.
Michael Johnson, Birmingham's acting finance director, says about 4,000 machines already are licensed in the city. Those machines will remain and, because the mayor and City Council are so timid in responding, will operate without giving the city any additional revenue from a gambling tax.
The moratorium will keep new machines from being licensed, and any renewals also will be denied. However, the ban continues only until Dec. 31.
Mayor Bernard Kincaid says the moratorium is only a temporary solution until the Alabama Supreme Court rules on the legality of the gaming machines. Why wait on a Supreme Court ruling?
Hoover and other cities didn't wait before slapping high taxes and fees on the arcade machines. One of Kincaid's stated concerns is that by taxing the machines, the city will be giving its blessing to an enterprise that might be illegal.
The reality is that legal or not, 4,000 electronic gambling machines are operating in the city, and they're licensed just like vending machines that dispense soft drinks or candy.
Besides, isn't the city conferring its blessings to an extent just by licensing the thousands of gambling machines it has already licensed? Those fees range from a paltry $12 to $30 per machine. Hoover imposed a multiple licensing scheme and a $3,000- per-machine fee. That's more like it - and Hoover leaders weren't too concerned about waiting for the Supreme Court to rule, either.
Kincaid's administration is well known for procrastinating on key decisions. Dealing with the eruption of gambling arcades throughout Birmingham's neighborhoods is yet another example.
If Kincaid won't act decisively to end the gambling scourge, the City Council should. The sooner, the better.
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