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| Plan would tighten bingo rules |
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VictoryLand's current lock on charity bingo in Macon County would be further protected under a proposal from a state senator, according to competitors who say they are already unfairly frozen out of the business.
If approved by the Alabama Legislature and voters, the constitutional amendment would put the Macon County Racing Commission in charge of charity bingo and not allow the commission to change the current rules controlling licensing unless the Legislature agreed. It would also exempt charity bingo operators, now only VictoryLand, from certain taxes in exchange for paying $3.25 million a year total: $2 million to the County Commission, $750,000 to the sheriff and $500,000 to the racing commission.
The senator sponsoring the bill said it gives voters a chance to make the high-stakes electronic charity bingo industry accountable to an appointed three-member commission as opposed to just the sheriff, who was originally given sole responsibility for writing the rules.
The Macon County Racing Commission has three members, one appointed by a local senator, one by a local representative and one by the County Commission.
Although games of chance and lotteries are banned by the Alabama Constitution, limited exceptions have been made for charity bingo, where some of the profits are shared with local charities.
A rule written by the sheriff of Macon County in January 2005 limits to 60 the number of nonprofits that can have the special license, and requires a bingo operator have at least 15 charity licenses to open.
All 60 of the licenses this year went to charities that are under contract with VictoryLand, leaving no room for anyone else. Also, the rule requires charity bingo operators to have spent at least $15 million on their facility, and investors can't get construction financing without assurances that they'll receive permission to open.
The roadblocks have already prompted at least two lawsuits by potential competitors who say the sheriff's rules give VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor a monopoly.
'Unfair':
And now those competitors and their affiliated charities say Penn's legislation is an extra insult.
"The people of Alabama and Macon County deserve more than this patently unfair and arbitrary proposal," said Bob Spotswood, a Birmingham lawyer for a group of charities affiliated with Lucky Palace Inc. "If Senator Penn and Mr. McGregor had the interests of the county in mind, they would welcome competition that brings new state-of-the-art entertainment facilities and hundreds of jobs to Macon County."
The proposed legislation ratifies the sheriff's rules and says they "shall not be repealed, amended or otherwise modified or made ineffective in any respect, except by action first proposed by a duly adopted resolution of the Macon County Racing Commission after a public hearing ... and thereafter approved by a local act of the Legislature with no change in the proposal made by said racing commission." |
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