AFTER having a series of discussions with the operators of electronic gaming arcades, Saipan Vegas and Club 88, the House Committee on Gaming has come up with a “compromise bill” to amend Saipan Local Law 22-6, which doubled the e-gaming license fee.
Prefiled by House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul, the still unnumbered House local bill would “structure the license fee [so that it will] increase based on the total number of machines.” This will allow the government to collect more revenue without overburdening the e-gaming business.
In August, MP Holdings LLC and Mariana Entertainment LLC, respective operators of Saipan Vegas in Chalan Kiya and Club 88 in Garapan, filed a motion for preliminary injunction in Superior Court against the Department of Finance to stop the implementation of S.L.L. 22-6. The local law imposes the greater of a $2,500 fee or 15% net gaming proceeds in addition to the same amount already levied by Commonwealth law.
The bill, which was not referred to a committee, was passed without public hearings.
Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo put the matter under advisement and said he hoped to see the Legislature and the gaming operators come up with compromise.
Yumul is also the author of S.L.L. 22-6.
Instead of the doubling the license fee per machine, Yumul’s newly prefiled local bill would impose an annual license fee based on the number of e-gaming machines.
For businesses with up to 200 machines, the license fee would be $1,500 per machine; those with 201 to 250 machines, the license fee would be $1,750 per machine; those with 251 to 300 machines, $2,000 per machine; those with 301 to 350 machines, $2,250 per machine; and those with 351 machines or more, $2,500 per machine.
These rates, according to the bill, “are for all the electronic gaming machines of the business. Businesses that grow and have more machines and move into a higher tier will pay a higher license fee for all of their machines at the higher tier rate. Should a business contract and move down a tier, the rates applicable to the machines of the business will also decrease to the rate set for the lower tier.”
Ralph Yumul
