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Local business urges Umatilla to revisit social gaming limits; city staff says state law allows municipal discretion
Summary
A local club owner asked council to update Umatilla's social gaming ordinance, arguing a $20 limit set in 2008 is uncompetitive; staff said Oregon law allows municipalities to adopt enabling ordinances but will research where social gaming crosses into commercial gambling.
Troy Linger, an owner-operator of a local gaming club, asked the Umatilla City Council to review the municipal social gaming ordinance (chapter 6), saying the current $20 limit, set in 2008, has not kept pace with inflation and leads players to travel outside the city.
"We're not asking for no limit gaming," Linger said. "We suggest a $300 thing as a reasonable minimum." He told council that some players travel to venues offering much higher limits and that keeping a higher permitted limit would help his club retain patrons and support local sponsorships.
Council staff responded that state law (ORS) permits local municipalities to adopt ordinances allowing social gaming and that Umatilla's ordinance has been on the books since 1988. Staff said there is a statutory threshold where social gaming becomes prohibited gambling and that additional research is needed to identify that point. "$20 is nowhere near that," the staff member said, adding that $50 also appears far from any statutory threshold.
Staff also noted the council typically schedules ordinance housekeeping and reviews in late summer or early fall and offered to return with several text options for the ordinance, including suggested dollar limits for council consideration.
Council did not take immediate action; staff will research statutory thresholds and return with options if council directs.
