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90-2064 0 R I G� N Q /�/ Council File � 0° D�O,� L . �� Green Sheet � 12215 � RESOLU CITY OF SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA Presented By � d ��!iG"'�� � Referred To Committee: Date WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has consistently supported legislation that encourages the operation of small scale charitable gambling activities to support worthy church, school, and youth programs of all types �throughout the City, and WHEREAS, the 1990 Minnesota Legislature passed changes in the State Charitable Gamblia�g law which jeopardize the operation of some bingo games in the City; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that upon the recommendation of the Mayor the Council of the City of Saint Paul does hereby support changes in Minnesota Statu,te 349.17, Subdivision 5 (b) to raise the annual income threshold for exemption from paper bingo from $150,000 to $200,000 and to allow bingo operators to be paid for their services at an hourly rate equal to that paid to other operators of bingo games. Navs Absent Requested by Department of: ��— �— License & Permit Division acca ee � �� T'— / '� i son �'— BY� D Adopted by Council: Date NOV 2 '� 1990 Form Approved by City Attorney Adoption rtified by Council Secretary gy: By� � Approved by Mayor for Submission to � Council Approved by Mayor: Date f/ vc`�/`,O � ��� 2 "7 1930 By: l��'���-<"-���� By� PU�LESHEO u E C � 1990 . . �,�o�?a�� . DEPARTMENT/OFFICE/COUNCIL DATE INITIATED Finance/Lic nse GREEN SHEET N° _ 12215 CONTACT PERSON&PHONE INITIAUDATE INITIAUDATE �DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR �CITY COUNCIL Robert Kess er - 98-5056 Ag$�GN �CITYATTORNEY �CITYCLERK NUMBER FOR MUST BE ON COUNCIL AGENDA BY(DA E) ROUTING �BUDGET DIRECTOR �FIN.&MGT.SERVICES DIR. ORDEA �MAYOR(OR ASSISTANT) � TOTAL#OF SIGNATURE PA ES (CLIP ALL LOCATIONS FOR SIGNATURE) ACTION REQUESTED: To urge the tate Legislature to make changes in "state law to protect hard card bingo operat rs i Saint Paul. RECOMMENDA710NS:Approve(A)or Rej ct(R) pERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS MUST ANSWER THE FOLLOWING�UESTIONS: _ PLANNING COMMISSION CIVIL SE VICE COMMISSION �• Has this personlfirm ever worked u�der a contract for this department? _CIB COMMITfEE YES NO _STnFF 2• Has this person/firm ever been a city employee? YES NO _DISTRICT COURT 3. Does this person/firm possess a skill not normally possessed by any current city employee? SUPPORTS WHICH COUNCIL OBJECTIV ? YES NO Explain all yes answers on separate sheet and attach to gresn aheet INITIATINO PROBLEM,ISSUE,OPPORT NITY(Wh ,What,When,Where,Why): A number of mall bingo operators have asked the City to urge the State Legislature to raise the thre hold for operation of paper bingo from $150,000 to $200,000 in annual incom . T ey also asked to be allowed to continue to pay their employees without requ ring the use of paper bingo. ADVANTAGES IF APPROVED: Will support small bingo operators in Saint Paul. DISADVANTAGES IF APPROVED: Will limit th use of paper bingo which is easier to control and monitor. DISADVANTAGES IF NOT APPROVED: Many small bi go o erators in Saint Paul will shut down. TOTAL AMOUNT OF TRANSACTiON s Orie COST/REVENUE BUDGETED(CIRCLE ONE) YES NO FUNDING SOURCE ACTIVITY NUMBER FINANCIAL INFORMATION:(EXPLAIN) , , . �'9a-aolo� LEGISLATIVE BRIEFiNG PAPER TITLE To raise the threshold for exemption from the state' s requirements for paper bingo and to allow worker' s to be paid without requiring the use of paper bingo. ISSUE The 1989 Minnesota Legislature adopted legislation which requires bingo operatvrs to use the so called "paper" bingo style for operating the games when organizations generate more than $150, 00 per year and pay their employees. Several small bingo operators in Saint Paul have asked the city to urge the state to raise the threshold to $200, 000 and allow them to continue to pay their employees so they won' t have to switch to paper bingo. These groups feel that paper bingo requirements will discourage �heir regular players from playing since they have been playing hard card bingo for many years and they do not want to change. The bingo operators also ar�ue that paper bingo requires more players and a larger investment ',of money per player in order to play and make the games profitable �or the operators. ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES Paper bingo provides more control over the money generated by bingo operators in that each paper card is marked with a serial number and players buy their paper sheets in a packet before the bingo game starts. Therefore it is easier for the state to track the number of games played and the amount of money taken in. However, the smaller hard card bingo games point out that the average player isn' t interested in paying the $15.00 to $25.00 required to play paper bingo. They feel that the paper requirement will result in the closing of many of the smaller church operated bingo sessions in the city. ALTERNATIVES T� LEGISLATION None that we can recommend. POLITIeAL CONTEXT The politics of bingo is volatile. The proponents of paper bingo want to see a large paper bingo operation in St . Paul . The small existing small bingo operators see paper bingo as a threat to their territory. No one knows for sure what the effects will be on the existing bingo operators because the state requirement does 't take effect until January 1, 1991 . The paper bingo group also wants to change the local restrictions on the number of bingo sessions allowed per group. Currently the city allows only one session per week per group. Some would like to 5ee that requirement changed to allow up to seven sessions per organization per week. If such a . , , (�qa_ao�� change were approved it would pave the way for "big time" bingo to be operated in Saint Paul in contrast to to small low key neighborhood bingo games that have been operated without many problems in the city for the past 20 years. PRI�RITS� This is a 4 priority for the License Division. NAME & DATE This briefing was prepared by Robert Kessler on November 19, 1990.