(Draft - Not yet approved by Board)
Date: June 27, 2012
Location: Secretary of
State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado
Members Present: Bishop Dan
Gincig, Vera Craven, Tom Bednark, Austin Gomes, Beau Williams
Members Absent: None
Secretary of State Officials Present: Mike Hardin, Greg Lestikow, Darleen Herrera, Shannon Bee, Brian Gryth
Meeting was called to
order at 10:03 A.M.
The Pledge of Allegiance
was conducted.
A motion was made by Tom
Bednark to approve the April 11, 2012, meeting minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Vera Craven and
approved by unanimous vote of the Board.
Secretary of State
Report
Mr. Hardin commented that
Sarah Steinbeck accepted a position with a private law firm and presented Greg
Lestikow, her replacement in the Bingo/Raffle and Charities programs. Mr.
Hardin stated Rudy Johnson and Patrick Ryan retired from the office. Both of these positions will be replaced in
the near future.
Mr. Hardin asked Chairman
Gincig if he would host Mr. Lestikow and any new employees at his hall to
observe a bingo session. Chairman Gincig
said he was open to this whenever we could arrange to have them go out.
Mr. Lestikow presented
the bingo financial reports which were distributed to the Board and
audience. The report shows net profits
on bingo are trending slightly higher than last year even though the amount
wagered is about the same. There was a
large jump in raffle proceeds, but this appears to be from a handful of very
large raffles which started in the first quarter. Mr. Lestikow also stated that the
bingo-raffle program will be making improvements to the financial reports to
increase consistency and improve readability. This will be completed by the
next board meeting.
Mr. Hardin stated that the
Secretary of State will be sending a questionnaire to all licensees regarding
electronic filing. Legislation discussed
at the last meeting is now law and includes funding for an electronic filing and
reporting system. The questionnaire will
help the office determine how to go forward with this system. Also, the e-learning system for games manager
training has progressed significantly.
It is currently going through an editing process and may be available
for viewing at the next meeting. Mr.
Hardin reported that the Secretary is currently reviewing the fee structure in
Bingo/Raffle and considering fee decreases that would benefit all licensees in
the future.
Chairman Gincig asked if the
Secretary’s office had reviewed the idea of collecting an extra fee from
licensees to start an advertising fund.
Mr. Hardin stated that the Secretary of State’s office is not inclined
to take on this role, and that it may not be within the office’s legal mandate
to do so. He stated the office would look into it further and get back with the
Board at the next meeting.
Carol Zeles, of Alpine Skating Club, asked if bingo
bills could be paid with a credit card. Carol
further stated her group has never had a card linked directly to their
bingo-raffle account and was not aware their group could do this.
Rule Change Discussion
Chairman Gincig suggested
an increase in faces allowed on electronic aids, from 36 to 54. He would also like to consider going forward
with a referendum or rule change to allow paid callers and other workers at
bingo.
Mr. Williams felt it was
not fair that groups conducting raffles have to pay quarterly report fees based
on the gross proceeds of the raffle, rather than on the net proceeds. The Secretary’s office committed to
determining whether this was a statutory or rules-based requirement by the next
meeting.
Mr. Hardin stated that the Secretary’s office will
consider the issue of whether paid callers can be allowed as an expense by
changes in the rules or statutes.
University of Denver
(DU) Presentation Discussion
The DU group’s final report
was distributed to each member of the Board.
The video of the summary comments was presented to the Board and
audience.
Mr. Gincig commented on
the recommendation in the video of groups playing bingo in bars. He stated that a couple of local bars had
approached his charity to do this, but in reality the bar would make more money
with free bingo and giving away prizes.
Chairman Gincig also felt the students did not get a good feel for halls
with more electronics available. Mr.
Hardin commented that this study was just a start and future studies will be
more focused and have a much narrower scope.
Mr. Lestikow presented a
few of the graphs from the study. The
first graph showed that total gross receipts from bingo have been declining
over the entire country as well as in Colorado.
Colorado is about in the middle of the road in the amount of decline
across all the states reviewed in the study.
Mr. Hardin asked the
Board to review the study and present study topics at the next meeting.
Mr. Bednark moved to
adjourn the meeting. The motion was
seconded by Ms. Craven and approved by the Board.
Meeting adjourned at 11:20
A.M.
The next meeting
of the Board will be September 12, 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 the legality/ability
of SOS office to raise fees and administer a “marketing fund” for bingo
- Look into ACH/e-checks as an option to pay fees electronically when the
Bingo-Raffle e-filing system is available
- Research potential for opening Rules for changes within the current year
- Determine if “gross proceeds” provision for quarterly fees is statutory,
rules-based, or discretionary
