Meeting details

Date:  September 12, 2012

Location: Secretary of State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado

Members Present: Bishop Dan Gincig, Beau Williams

Members Absent: Vera Craven, Tom Bednark, Austin Gomes

Secretary of State Officials Present: Mike Hardin, Greg Lestikow, Brian Gryth, Shannon Bee

Meeting was called to order at 10:05 A.M. 

The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted.

Secretary of State report

Mr. Hardin spoke on the deliverables from the last meeting. The first item concerned establishing a marketing fund administered by the Secretary of State. Brian Gryth, a member of the Secretary of State’s legal team, presented a brief legal analysis of the issue. It was determined from the statutes currently in place that fees collected by the Secretary of State’s office must go to the Secretary of State’s cash fund. The office then must seek legislative appropriations to be able to use these funds. Thus, a statutory change is required to allow the office to collect and create a separate fund to administer for marketing purposes. No action will be taken at this time.

Mr. Hardin next presented the results of the questionnaire distributed to licensees regarding their ability to file and pay online. Of the 719 respondents, 60% stated that they could file online while 40% said they could not. Of the 40% that could not, the majority (94%) stated that their organization did not have a credit or debit card.  The Secretary of State’s office will consider survey outcomes when designing the new Bingo/Raffles online filing system. 

Next was a discussion on the question regarding quarterly fees being based on net instead of gross proceeds. The statutes specifically state that fees are based on gross receipts. This was probably done to discourage fraudulent activities, and no action will be taken at this time. 

The games manager e-learning platform was presented to the Board and attending audience.  The system is now being tested by 16 new games managers. Their feedback will be incorporated into the new online course, which will go live 10/01/2012. 

Greg Lestikow gave the quarterly financial report to the Board and presented charts. The charts showed that raffles have the highest margins of any charitable game and bring in the most profit, while bingo and pull tabs at bingo occasions garner the most wagers statewide. 

Mr. Lestikow also presented the new Bingo/Raffles Newsletter to the Board. It will be sent out on a quarterly basis, with the first mailing on 09/31/2012. The first newsletter will go out via e-mail to all licensees with e-mail addresses, and via mail to those without e-mail. Groups without e-mail will receive a notification with the newsletter indicating that they must provide an e-mail address in order to receive future newsletters. 

Mr. Lestikow provided information on potential future topics for the next University of Denver study. Neither the Board nor audience presented any additional concepts.

Mr. Hardin presented the information on the fee reductions that will go into effect October 1, 2012. These fee reductions will be reviewed quarterly. There was a question regarding if this applied to third quarter reporting fees. Mr. Hardin indicated that the fee reductions will apply to any quarterly reports submitted after October 1, and that an e-mail would be distributed to clarify this issue.

Rule change discussion

The Bingo-Raffles rules will be opened for change and the tentative timeline is as follows:

Filing of rules hearing notice-9/28/2012
Hearing date-10/31/2012
Earliest effective date-1/14/2013

Mr. Hardin explained that paid callers and/or workers could not be allowed through rule changes and must be done through a Constitutional Amendment and subsequent statutory changes.

Chairman Gincig stated that in past discussions of changes to the rules it was suggested that the maximum number of allowed patterns during a session be changed from the current maximum of 35. Also, it had been requested that the number of allowable faces on the electronic devices be increased as well as increasing the payouts at “para-mutual” bingo games from $2,000 to $5,000.

John Amen stated that the vacant Board positions should be looked into and those positions filled. Mr. Hardin stated that the Secretary of State’s office will provide a summary of the vacant positions with affiliations and legislative authority for filling the position at the next Board meeting.

Closing

Meeting adjourned at 11:10 A.M.

The next meeting of the Board will be November 14, 2012, at 10:00 AM at the Secretary of State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado.

Deliverables from SOS office for next meeting:

• Determine if $5,000 limit on maximum payouts for Bingo is in Statute and if the limit could be changed in the rule from $2,000 to $5,000.
• Research background on 35 pattern limit and potential for inclusion in rule changes.
• Develop a summary of vacant Board positions with corresponding affiliations and appointing authorities.
• Send email clarifying that fee reductions will apply to all quarterly reports filed on or after October 1.