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Senator opposes proposed poker fee hike
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Posted on Apr 07 2005
Senator Luis C. Crisostimo said there is no way that he would support the administration’s proposal to raise poker licensure fees by a hefty rate of $6,000 per machine.
“I’m not in favor of those increases. I think the administration is shooting blank bullets here,” he said.
Crisostimo, whose family operates poker shops, said the government should instead be sensitive to the industry since it funds several government programs.
“If poker pays for retirement, scholarship, etc., then we should be mindful of this industry,” he said.
Instead of increasing fees, he said the government needs “to have more creative ideas to be able to bring in new businesses.”
He said that imposing a 50-percent fee hike on poker licenses is tantamount to killing the local industry.
He said that the government “continues to fail to provide local employment.”
Under its $225.8-million budget plan for fiscal year 2006, the administration proposes to raise the annual poker fee by $6,000. On Saipan, the fee would be raised to $18,000; on Rota, $14,000; and Tinian, $12,000.
The administration hopes to generate some $8 million from the fee hike and over $7 million from local poker fees.
Meantime, Tinian senator Joseph Mendiola, chair of the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs, doubts that the government would actually collect the projected amount.
“What if, by increasing the fee, 50 percent of the operators decide to close down?” asked Mendiola.
He cited that poker fees are collected on a quarterly basis because operators could not pay the fee at once.
There are about 1,200 poker machines on Saipan.
The administration said that the projected revenue from poker would be used to fund the Public School System, which is requesting $50 million for fiscal year 2006.
“How solid is the projected $8 million? We don’t want to give PSS high hopes. When you do that, you’d be running on an intentional deficit because the cash is not there,” said Mendiola.
