A fair deal?

Seven months ago, the Houston County Commission altered the county’s charitable bingo regulations to allow a proposed entertainment development, Country Crossing, to include a bingo hall with 1,500 electronic bingo games. The changes would also prohibit electronic bingo games from any facility that doesn’t meet specific criteria that closely mirror the plans for Country Crossing. In effect, there would be no charitable bingo anywhere in Houston County but at Country Crossing.

While we support the development, we believe the commission gave away the farm with its bingo regulation changes. In order to hold up the “charitable” end of the bargain, the developers pledged an annual $2 million donation to Houston County charities. That figure is nothing to sneeze at, but it’s also a pittance compared to the potential income of 1,500 electronic bingo machines.

After several weeks of struggling to balance a budget that some $3 million short of the revenue side, the commission revisited its regulatory changes this week and added an annual licensing fee of $1,000 per machine, which would bring as much as $1.5 million for the county’s general fund.

If the Florida Legislature’s figures are correct, the commission may be leaving millions of dollars on the table.

Earlier this year, Florida lawmakers considered — and ultimately failed to pass — a measure that would allow video gaming machines such as electronic bingo at established parimutuel gambling facilities. The proposed law included an annual license fee of $3 million per establishment (twice what Houston County would collect from Country Crossing in license fees), an annual $250,000 fee to be used for an addictive gambling prevention program and a 35 percent tax on the gross proceeds of the machines.

Florida Senate Bill 1380 took a per-machine estimate for video lottery states over the last two years — $60,000 — and adjusted the estimate for Class II bingo games. The adjusted estimate is $45,000 per machine per year. Florida’s research suggests that a 1,500-machine bingo hall would generate income of about $67.5 million per year. The operator would donate $2 million to charity and pay $1.5 million in licensing fees — slightly more than 5 percent of the estimated gross proceeds.

County commissioners should research the revenue potential of electronic bingo machines and revisit the county’s bingo regulations to ensure that the people of Houston County get a fair deal.