Edina council approves amended ordinance allowing charitable pull-tab games, drops city’s proposed 10% cut

The Edina City Council on April 7 adopted an amended ordinance enabling charitable gambling activities such as paper and electronic pull tabs, paddle-wheel and bingo at licensed premises, but narrowed who may apply and removed a proposed city share of proceeds.

Council members debated whether nonprofits that are not based in Edina should be eligible and whether the city should take 10% of net proceeds to fund programs. Clerk Allison told the council the draft ordinance would set a 3% regulatory charge on gross receipts to cover administration and — as proposed — a 10% allocation of proceeds for a city-administered fund. Council member Jackson moved to limit applicants to Edina-based 501(c)(3) organizations; Member Pierce seconded. That amendment passed. Jackson then moved to delete the 10% contribution; Pierce seconded and the amendment passed on a voice vote. The council then adopted the ordinance as amended and waived any required second reading.

Clerk Allison described procedural checks the city will perform before a state premise permit is issued: the nonprofit must present a lease of at least one year with a liquor-licensed premises and the venue must be in compliance with its liquor license; the state gambling board performs the bulk of qualification and financial oversight. "Those are the only two things that we're looking for when we are reviewing that application," Allison said, summarizing the city's role in approving premise‑permit resolutions for the state board.

Council members expressed competing priorities in the debate. Member Jackson said she worried that taking 10% of proceeds would discourage volunteer-run nonprofit efforts because organizing pull-tab operations requires substantial work. "It just doesn't seem fair to turn around and give it to another charitable organization unless it was an anti‑gambling or treatment program," Jackson said. Member Agnew and others urged caution and recommended that, if the council retained any city share, the money be dedicated to problem‑gambling prevention, mental‑health services or addiction‑recovery programs; that option was not adopted.

City Manager (speaking in staff remarks) urged the council that adopting a city allocation now was easier than creating it later; staff also recommended marking any city revenue as a special revenue fund to maintain transparency. After adopting the ordinance in its amended form, the council approved summary publication of Ordinance 2026‑02.

Outcome and next steps: the ordinance (adopted as amended on April 7) authorizes the city to sign premise‑permit applications to the state gambling board for qualifying nonprofits and requires staff to manage the new regulatory receipts. Clerk Allison will process applications and transmit the council’s resolution to the state board; the state completes organizational qualification and oversight for licensed gaming operations.

Votes and procedure: the record shows voice votes on the amendments and final adoption; no roll‑call tally of individual yes/no votes of every member appears in the meeting transcript. The motion to amend the definition to require Edina‑based nonprofits was moved by Member Jackson and seconded by Member Pierce; the motion to eliminate the 10% city contribution was moved by Member Jackson and seconded by Member Pierce; the main motion to adopt the ordinance as amended was moved and seconded and the council carried it and approved summary publication of the ordinance.