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Youth fishing group asks Kasson to reconsider gambling-operator fees; council to review monthly reports
Summary
Brett Keith of CAM Youth Fishing told the council the proposed gambling-operator fee structure (noted in the ordinance as a 3% gross fee and a reserve for youth uses) would take a large share of his group's net proceeds; staff said monthly reporting will be required and the council may revisit the percentage.
Brett Keith, representing CAM Youth Fishing, brought sample forms and calculations under the city’s proposed gambling ordinance and told the council that the way fees are assessed could significantly reduce the group's net proceeds.
"If you look on the one page, so our net profit for the month was $2,582.59… The payment to the city would be $776.14… That comes out to about 30% of our net profit," Keith said, urging the council to "reconsideration… to not take so much from our charity." (Speaker’s numeric examples in the transcript were garbled in places; council staff and the speaker agreed to re-check the figures.)
City staff (Linda) explained the ordinance was updated last year to allow organizations to contribute outside the immediate service area and that the city initially set the gross fee at the statutory cap of 3 percent; a separate youth-reserve percentage is set aside in a state-tracked pool for restricted youth purposes such as park equipment or the city festival.
"We set it at the statutory number which is the 3%," Linda said, and added that the city has not been receiving consistent reports from groups and therefore lacks comprehensive revenue data.
Council members asked staff to collect monthly reports from all gambling organizations so the council can evaluate the real revenue and consider lowering the fee; staff suggested reducing the gross percentage to 1% might be possible and noted that the city could rebate any overcollected amounts if a later change is adopted before payments are due. Council indicated the goal of reviewing collected reports by the end of the month and discussing revisions at a February meeting.
Why this matters: The ordinance’s fee and reserve percentages affect how much fundraising groups retain for local programs. Council members said better monthly reporting from operators is essential before changing policy.
Next steps: Staff will collect monthly reports from the gambling operators and return to council with numbers and recommendations; the council may revise the ordinance after reviewing the data.
