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 $200,000 and to allow bingo operators to be paid
for their services at an hourly rate equal to that paid to other operators of
bingo games.
Navs Absent Requested by Department of:
��— �— License & Permit Division
acca ee �
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i son �'— BY�
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Adopted by Council: Date NOV 2 '� 1990 Form Approved by City Attorney
Adoption rtified by Council Secretary gy:
By� � Approved by Mayor for Submission to
� Council
Approved by Mayor: Date f/ vc`�/`,O
� ��� 2 "7 1930
By: l��'���-<"-���� By�
PU�LESHEO u E C � 1990
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DEPARTMENT/OFFICE/COUNCIL DATE INITIATED
Finance/Lic nse GREEN SHEET N° _ 12215
CONTACT PERSON&PHONE INITIAUDATE INITIAUDATE
�DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR �CITY COUNCIL
Robert Kess er - 98-5056 Ag$�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.