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Up front payment of poker fees now a law
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Posted on May 18 2006
Owners of poker establishments will now be required to pay annual license fees up front in the government’s effort to prevent losing over $7 million in revenues every year.
The newly enacted Poker Machine License Fees Act of 2006 scraps the old practice where poker fees were collected quarterly.
According to the Legislature, quarterly payment makes enforcement more difficult and it encourages false reporting, nonpayment of fees, and the operation of illegal machines.
The lawmakers also note that inefficient poker fees collection has hampered the implementation of funded projects, including the government’s scholarship program.
“[T]he purpose of this act is to require poker machine license fees to be paid in full prior to the issuance of any poker machine license and to provide that the fees may not be refunded,” states a portion of Public Law 15-8.
The new law also provides that $200,000 of the poker fees collected should be allocated to the Department of Finance for enforcement purposes and should not be reprogrammed for any other purposes.
There are currently 1,226 licensed poker machines on Saipan, 106 on Tinian, and 82 on Rota.
All together, the 1,414 licensed poker machines throughout the Commonwealth should be providing a total of $16.38 million to government coffers.
Saipan operators are charged a yearly fee of $12,000 per poker machine. The license rate is $8,000 a year on Tinian and $10,000 on Rota.
Of the respective amounts, $6,000 goes to the general fund while the balance goes to the local governments.
