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Case 02: Review Status of Lawful Gambling Ordinance by Council <br /> Appointed Task Force <br /> <br />Finance Officer Hart stated that on August 25, 1993, Councilmembers Beyer and <br />Zimmennan and she met to review the status of the City's current gambling ordinance. No <br />representatives showed up from any of the gambling organizations currently operating in <br />the City,of Ramsey. It was determined that a new method of calculation was necessary in <br />order to ~ke the enforcement of the City's gambling ordinance less cumbersome and more <br />equitable across all organizations while still bringing money into the City for park purposes <br />as designated by the City Council. Ms. Hart stated that the option determined to be the <br />most viable as to equity and enforcement is as follows: Utilize "gross profit" as defined in <br />MS Chapter 349 and give each organization the benefit of automatically allowing 50 percent <br />of the "gross profit" as the "allowable expenses" in arriving at "net profit" which would <br />then have a standard percentage applied to it. She stated that this method would eliminate <br />the question of pro-rating taxes and would also eliminate the availability of losses to be <br />carried forward to offset future "net profits". Ms. Hart stated that she forwarded this <br />information to City Attorney Goodrich and he in turn is having it reviewed by the Attorney <br />General that represents the Gambling Control Boards interest. The Attorney General's <br />office has not yet responded. City Attorney Goodrich is also reviewing the legality of <br />changing the code to limit the number of game types that can take place at any one site. <br /> <br />Councilmember Zimmerman inquired how long the City could let a gambling organization <br />be late on their payments. <br /> <br />Ms. Hart stated two years and that thc City cannot impose a penalty but could proceed with <br />legal action to shut them down or make them comply. <br /> <br />Councilmember Zimmerman inquired if the state has criteria for the City to not issue a <br />permit. <br /> <br />Ms. Hart stated that there has to be justification for denial. <br /> <br />Councilmember Peterson felt this process would be easier to monitor but he did not know <br />if he was in favor of limiting the number of games. <br /> <br />Councilmember Zimmerman stated he wasn't sure there would be any advantage to limiting <br />the number of games either. <br /> <br />Mayor Oilbertson suggested maybe no charitable gambling should be allowed as it <br />appeared to create such problems. <br /> <br />Councilmember Beyer felt that it would not be in the best interest of the City to disallow it <br />all together. <br /> <br />Consensus of the Committee was that they were not in favor of limiting the types of games <br />allowed. <br /> <br />There was also a consensus to send a letter to each of the gambling organizations operating <br />in the City of Ramsey soliciting a response to the proposal before the Council takes any <br />action. <br /> <br />Finance Connnittee/October 26, 1993 <br /> Page 2 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br />