Bill to reallocate poker license fees

Micronesia -- A BILL to reallocate the license fees generated from poker machines has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Authored by Rep. Victor B. Hocog, H.B. 16-2 aims to appropriate 100 percent of the license fees collected from 64 poker machines on Saipan, Rota and Tinian.

Hocog, Ind.-Rota, said that the current license fee for each poker machine is $10,000. From this figure, he said, the bill will provide about $4,000 to the municipal government while $6,000 will go to the general funds.

“All license fees shall be paid in full prior to the issuance of a license and shall be nonrefundable,” the bill stated.

According to the bill, only the license fee from the 64 poker machines will be reallocated while the remaining machines will abide by the existing law on fund appropriation.

The bill stated that the Department of Finance will be the agency to handle and allocate the funds on Saipan, Rota and Tinian.

Hocog estimated that from the $10,000 license fees that will be collected for each poker machine, a total of $640,000 can be produced.

He acknowledged that since the “general coffers are depleting rapidly” his bill generate extra funding for each of the three main islands.

Hocog also introduced another bill, H.B. 16-3, which states that 5 percent of the gross receipt tax paid by gambling operators will go to a special account prepared by the Department of Finance. The money from the special account will then be used for community programs on education, employment and healthcare.

News Added: 23 January, 2008

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