Quarterly Reports Due October 31

If you held a 2022 license at any time during the 3rd quarter 2022, you MUST submit your LE-21 Quarterly Report form by October 31, 2022. The report covers the period from July 1 through September 30. Reports filed after this date will be assessed a $50 late filing fee.

Filing quarterly reports using our online system is cheaper than filing paper forms. If needed, all paper forms can still be found on our website, including all daily forms.

Please make sure to provide copies of daily forms for progressive bingo (LE-34a), progressive pull tabs (LE-31a), and progressive raffles (LE-34c) with your submission. The progressive bingo forms should be updated after each bingo occasion and the pull tab and raffle forms should be updated regularly.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact Lisa Marty at lisa.marty@coloradosos.gov or Denise Lamberth at denise.lamberth@coloradosos.gov.

2022 Bingo-Raffle Licenses

If you plan to conduct charitable gaming activities in 2022, you can apply for your annual license at any time during 2022 via the online or paper application form (please allow 7-10 working days processing time). This applies to both new licenses and renewals. Licenses can be printed directly from the summary page if you apply online (once your filing is reviewed and approved). If mailing your application, your license number will be e-mailed if this is provided on the form once it has been received and processed. To minimize unnecessary delays, please review your application before submitting. Sign into your account if you wish to apply online or visit our forms page to download the paper license application. New applicants can start the process from here. Please contact Program Manager Shannon Bee by email at shannon.bee@coloradosos.gov with any questions.

Still Gaining Followers!

We are currently now at a solid 91% of groups filing their documentation online. That is a 2% improvement over this time last year, and a 1% increase from just last quarter! A HUGE thanks to all the organization’s that have taken the opportunity to make this transition or continue to file via our online portal. For those still filing by paper, quarterly reminders are being sent regarding how to create your online account. Please also remember that the fees for online filing of quarterlies are cheaper than those for paper filing, and your filing or renewal is not being held up by waiting for the mail to be delivered to our office. If you would like to start the process of going to online filing, please refer to your reminder or contact our team to assist you. You are always welcome to give us a call or drop us a line – we are more than happy to aid you in taking advantage of this filing method.

Bingo/Raffle Advisory Board

The Colorado Bingo-Raffle Advisory Board makes recommendations to the Secretary of State's office in its regulation of the charitable gaming sector. All members of the public are encouraged to attend and contribute to this important dialogue. The next meeting is scheduled for:

When: TBD-check our website for updates

Where: Zoom

Specifics regarding any meeting and how to attend can be found here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send us an email at licensing@coloradosos.gov.

We would also like to remind current members of the Board that there is a statutory requirement that they complete yearly Board training. This training is available here under Bingo-Raffle Advisory Board training.

Bingo/Raffle Financial Reports.

Our office is committed to using our state-wide reach to provide timely and accurate data to the bingo/raffle community. We use the information you provide on quarterly reports to publish two informative datasets on our website:

• Aggregate revenue report: this report contains a "roll-up" of total revenue, expense, and profit data for charitable gaming in the state.

• Revenue by licensee: this report contains similar information broken down by individual bingo/raffle licensees. We began publishing this report in response to a request from our Bingo/Raffle Advisory Board.

Our website currently contains reports for calendar years 2013 through 2nd quarter 2022. Reports are updated quarterly.

Renewing of Bingo-Raffle License 2023

Starting November 1, current Bingo-Raffle licensees can renew their licenses for 2023, as long as your 3rd quarter 2022 quarterly report has been filed. The Secretary of State's office encourages groups to file online. If renewing online, the licensee needs to access their online account and use the “renew” link on their account’s summary page. Please do not create a new account as these filings will need to be rejected and resubmitted through your already existing account.

When filing online, the system will only accept credit or debit cards; we do not have ACH or the ability to directly transfer funds from your accounts. The card, however, does not have to be linked directly to the bingo-raffle account. A personal card could be used (we do not retain any card information once the submission is made to our office), and then reimbursed from the bingo-raffle account (we will need adequate descriptions on the schedule A that the reimbursement was for a “loan” to repay the person using their personal card for this payment). Also, the group has the option of obtaining a prepaid card where it can be loaded with the appropriate amount to cover the payment.

Quarterly Report Filing Reminders

Save & Exit doesn’t automatically resubmit your report to us. It only saves any changes you have made and takes you out of your report to review or send it later. If your quarterly report screen or history screen still says rejected after you have made and saved your changes, the report has not been filed. You can review your report before you confirm and file, to make sure you see that your changes and attached documents have been saved.

When resubmitting your report, make sure to:

1. Fill out the sign tab then click CONTINUE
2. Next review your report and at the bottom left it will say CONFIRM AND FILE or Pay Now. Chose the action necessary to file your report.
3. The next screen will ask you for an email address and at the top it will say THE REPORT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED.

Once you get to that point the report has been submitted. If you have any further questions or need further assistance, please contact our office.

Renewing a Bingo Hall License

All licensed bingo halls can renew their licenses beginning November 1, 2022. These must be filed via the online system as we no longer accept paper renewals for halls. If you had a licensed Bingo-Raffle hall in 2022, please be sure to access your prior account by logging in here. Do not create a new landlord license application if you are renewing from the previous year. Please contact our office with any questions or concerns.

Games Manager Training

Your organization must have at least one certified Games Manager in order to run charitable games. We recommend licensees maintain more than one Games Manager. To support this, we offer in-person and online Games Manager training courses.

Sign up for the online eLearning course on our website.

For in-person classes, visit our Games Manager Training page and follow the instructions to sign up for a scheduled class.

The dates/times/places of upcoming Games Manager training classes follow:

Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 8:30 AM. FO Eagles 143, 1050 S 21st St, Longmont, CO, 80504.

Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 8:30 AM. BPO Elks 1336, 321 Ash St, Sterling, CO 80151

Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 8:30 AM. Confederacion Mutualista Mexicana e Hispana Americana, 34451 Hwy 12, Trinidad, CO 81082

We are committed to providing Games Manager Classes and licensee outreach and want to ensure anyone who attend the classes be safe.

• During the Games Manager class masks will be encouraged if you have all required vaccines. If you have not been vaccinated please wear a mask while in the building.
• If CDC guidance recommends your county wear masks indoors, we will be wearing masks indoors.
• If a COVID variant is increasing in your area, the Games Manager Class may be postponed.
• If you are exhibiting symptoms of COVID please do not attend the class. If you are having allergy symptoms it is recommended that a rapid, at home test be taken same day prior to attending class. If the result is positive please stay home and follow CDC guidance regarding quarantine.
• If you are exhibiting COVID symptoms, the instructor may ask you to take the test online or schedule yourself for another class.

Refunding of Payment Policy

Our office has instituted timeline limits for refunding monies for services provided by our office for Bingo-Raffle submissions. To see this new policy, please go to our Fees schedule page to review. Going forward, this same policy will be on any payment page prior to your submitting a filing online which includes a payment requirement. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Investigator Tips

Each quarter, we include a few tips from our Bingo/Raffle Investigators. They gather a lot of information in the field with areas where licensees have compliance challenges. By sharing this information, we hope that licensees can better serve their customers.

A MESSAGE FROM THE INVESTIGATORS

Non-Compliant Bingo Game

Our office has received questions regarding a game called "wild ball" where the "wild balls" are determined by the first ball to come up the shoot. As an example, if the first ball to be drawn was a 53, then every other number that ends is 3 for that game would be wild, i.e., 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53 63, for that game only. So, in essence, the first ball out creates a "free" or "wild" spaces for that game.

This game is not compliant with current bingo-raffle law. Specifically, Rule 3.1.2(d) states, "A licensee must select balls one at a time." Choosing a number on a ball that makes other bingo balls free numbers is tantamount to choosing multiple balls at one time. Bingo balls must be selected and called one at a time under current bingo-raffle law.

Feel free to contact our office at 303-894-2200 if you have questions.

You can access all bingo/raffle laws using our Bingo-Raffles Law Handbook. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions.