Public dollars generated by a special taxing district being considered by the Waukegan CIty Council would not go to the casino, Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said.

The Waukegan City Council last week approved hiring a consultant to investigate the feasibility of establishing a tax-increment financing district or another type of business district for the Northpoint Business Park and Fountain Square.

The Fountain Square shopping complex is where a proposed casino would be built should the Illinois Gaming Board give its approval to one of the three would-be developers.

“I’m going to be very clear, and I’m going to be very direct,” Mayor Sam Cunningham said at the meeting. “Our intentions, as long as I’m the mayor of this city, is not to be giving money to a casino. Period. So that’s final.”