MP Holdings LLC on Friday shut down Saipan Country Club which employed six local workers.
Built in 1962, the nine-hole golf course in Chalan Kiya was bought by MP Holdings from its Japanese operators in 2016.
MP Holdings invested about $2 million to rehabilitate the golf course and construct hotel rooms as well as the Saipan Vegas electronic gaming arcade.
On Friday, MP Holdings consultant Gus Noble said they were forced to close Saipan Country Club “due to the harsh and unreasonable double taxation of e-gaming venues.”
He was referring to Saipan Local Law 22-6 which doubles the e-gaming license fee. The Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation passed the measure without conducting a public hearing or issuing a committee report.
Introduced by House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul, the measure was signed into law by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on Aug. 2, 2021.
Noble told reporters they were not bluffing when they said the law’s enactment will shut down their resort which includes 50 hotel rooms, an e-gaming arcade and the golf course. This, he said, will put 70 local workers out of work.
He said in the meantime, MP Holdings “profoundly regrets to announce the closure of Saipan Country Club effective immediately, due to the imposition of Saipan Local Law 22-6.”
“MP Holdings has owned and operated the Saipan Country Club since 2016. The golf course is a part of NMI history, being the first golf course in Saipan. Many local golfers have fond memories of the course. MP Holdings has maintained SCC for the last five years despite the fact that the golf course has never been profitable,” Noble said.
For his part, MP Holdings general manager Bart Jackson said since the double fee imposed by S.L.L. 22-6 was effective immediately, “the company has been forced into making some very difficult business decisions. We are reevaluating all of our businesses operations in light of Saipan Local Law 22-6.”
Noble reiterated that the measure was passed by the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation “without any public comment, comments from the mayor, or any input from the industry.”
He said they have asked the Saipan delegation for an opportunity to discuss potential alternatives, but, he added, the delegation has so far refused to meet with them.
“At the very least, we were hoping to correct the record as a number of key facts included in the legislation were both misrepresented and incorrect. These errors include inaccuracies regarding the number of e-gaming machines operating on Saipan, the aggregate license fee paid by those machines and how the current e-gaming license fees and taxes are calculated. MP Holdings is also puzzled as to why IPI e-gaming machines have been excluded from the new license fees,” he added, referring to Imperial Pacific International, the island’s casino operator.
Noble said as a result of the enormous increase of its operating cost, MP Holdings has been forced to make very difficult cost-cutting decisions.
“We are struggling to find solutions to our business sustainability. Saipan Country Club…has never made a profit. In light of the huge increase in operating costs, closing the golf course will significantly reduce overhead,” he added.
MP Holding, he said, “continues to respectfully request that the Saipan delegation repeal this unfair and harsh license fee.”
He said they would like to meet with the members of the delegation “to discuss revenue-generating alternatives in order to reach a resolution that balances the economic realities of the Saipan e-gaming industry, the delegation’s objectives to support the Saipan community, and most importantly, the 70 employees and their families who will be impacted by MP Holdings’ reduced business operations,” Noble added.
The six ground maintenance employees of Saipan Country Club pose for a photo on Friday — their last day of work.
