GCD website a great source of information
It’s always good to hear from readers of the Montana Tavern Times, especially from those requesting more information or commenting on the news of the day.
Those requests and comments validate the Tavern Times as a valued resource to many in the tavern and gaming industry.
After last month’s news story on video gambling machine (VGM) revenues, our office received a call from a woman wondering why revenue figures for Butte weren’t included in the table that accompanied the story. That table compared revenues for larger cities from fourth quarter 2009 to fourth quarter 2010.
The answer is that Butte is a consolidated government and so belongs in the county category under Butte-Silver Bow. (Anaconda-Deer Lodge is the only other consolidated city-county government.)
Right at press time for the August issue, the Tavern Times was able to obtain just enough information, thanks to the efforts of the Gambling Control Division (GCD), to get a brief story on the year-end VGM revenue picture.
GCD Administrator Rick Ask and his staff were extremely helpful in getting the information to us at deadline.
Now is a good time to remind readers of a great information source – GCD’s website: www.doj.mt.gov/gaming.
Updated regularly, the site is a tremendous outlet for gaming information and statistics.
Gaming regulation is the tab you’ll jump to, and here you’ll find such information as dates for online-reporting training sessions, regulation summaries, information on the Gaming Advisory Council and, of course, statistics and reports.
This website is where you’ll find the table mentioned earlier, as well several others, including one that compares taxes for counties (see at right). This is the one that shows Butte-Silver Bow figures, which the caller was inquiring about.
Here is more information on the year-end revenue results, found on the website:
VGM Tax Collections
Video Gambling Machine tax collections for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010 (April, May, and June) were about $12.6 million, an increase of $368,481 from the previous quarter but $2.7 million lower than for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009.
Liquor & Gambling Licenses
In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010, the Division received 92 liquor, gambling, and combined liquor gambling applications. This is comparable to the 96 applications received during the fourth quarter of last fiscal year.
An individual video gambling machine permit fee is $220 for the full fiscal year and is reduced by a prorated amount each subsequent quarter of the fiscal year.
A portion of the fee (45 percent) goes to the local government where the machine is located and the balance goes to the Gambling Special Revenue Fund.
During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010, 2,473 video gambling machines received permits, up 1,604 from the number issued in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009. The significant increase is due to a special project, not indicative of a change in the trend.
Card Games & Bingo
By the end of fourth quarter, the number of card tables licensed during fiscal year 2010 was 399. This is down 35 tables from the same time last year.
The number of card dealers licensed at the end of fourth quarter 2010 was 724, down 145 from the same time last year.
The number of bingo and keno licenses increased to 77 in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010, an increase of 15 over the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009.
VGM Reporting Online
Currently, 99 percent of all video gambling machines are reporting through an approved automated accounting system.