Meeting details

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.   

Closing

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