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CASE REVIEW PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE LAWFUL GAMBLING ORDINANCE By: Jessie L. Hart, Finance Officer Background: For the past several months Councilmcmbcrs Bcyer and Zimmcrman and myself have been working on revisions to the section of the City Code that deals with the regulation and administration of ~awful gambling in the City of Ramsey. Attached hereto is the draft ordinance for discussion purpoles at tonights meeting. - The objective of~he revisions was to establish policies and procedures that made it easier for both the City to regul~tte and the various non-profit organizations to comply with and to establish a "regular" cash fie ~w for the City. We have structured the amendments to hopefully achieve these objectives. Some of the amendments consisted of "housekeeping" type revisions such as changing "charitable" to "la wful" and changing all references to "licenses" to "premises permits." The major changes that imf act the way the City administers lawful gambling and compliance by outside organizations are as follows: 7.61.05 Conditions .! This sect~pn originally contained item c which imposed a limit on the number of locations any one ~ganization could operate in the City of Ramsey. This item has been eliminated, thus, wi~ City approval on premises permits, an organization which meets all other stipulatiotis in this Code section can operate unlimited sites in the City. A new ite~ c has been added which limits the maximum number of gambling devises (ie: puli-mbs; Up-boards; or paddlewheels) at any one Ioc~tion to two of any one device. 7.61.09 ~Use of Lawful Gambling Net Profits This sectipn stipulates the amount of and basis for computing the required contribution' to the City l:g4sed on net profits. The original percentage was 10% (maximum allowed by the Statutes) bf net profits which is defined as profits less amounts expended for allowable expenses~ Organizations operating in the City were allowed to deduct taxes (combined receipts; ~federal wagering; distributors taxes; etc) in determining net profits even though they are ~ot defined as allowable expenses. In addition, if a net loss occurred after the deduction of these taxes, the net loss was allowed to be carried forward to offset future net profits in h given permit year. The propt percentag We have deducfior infrequen ~sed amendments to this section are to eliminate any direct reference to a particular e, but rather indicate that a percentage will be established by CoUncil resolution. also changed the wording to indicate that taxes will no longer be allowed as is when determining net profits, nor will any net losses (which will occur very fly under this method) be carried forward at any time. These changes as presented were reviewed with the Gambling Control Board by Bill Goodrich and myself. The Boa rd indicated that the manner in which we propose to regulate lawful gambling and collect a pereenta~ge of net profits are acceptable methods under State Statutes.