PA SGOC Tavern Gaming Legislation Proposals

If you have been reading this blog you would know that we predicted (as did many of you) that the PA Legislatures would be proposing legislation to make obtaining a Tavern Gaming license more attractive and a less complicated event for the thousands of eligible organizations that were originally expected to apply.

After reading an informative article from Steve Silver published on the Philadephia Business Journal website (see link below in the resource section), there is proposed legislation in place that is gaining support.

I suggest you read the article, however below I list the bullet points as it pertains to changes that will make obtaining a Tavern Gaming license more attractive:

·         Lowers Initial fee from $4,000 to $2,000 (which will include the cost of the license for the first year)

·         Removes the $1000 15 year FBI Background check

·         Changes owners profit from 35% to 45%

o   50% goes to State and 5% goes to local municipality

·         Separates a Gaming violation from Liquor Code Violation.  Having a gaming violation will no long impact Taverns Liquor License standing.

o   Gaming Violations will be fined and will lose their license after a 3^rd violation.

 

PA HB1932

In addition to the Tavern Gaming License information in Mr. Silvers article you will find there is optimism regarding the eventual passing of HB1932.  HB1932 will allow regulated video gaming in liquor licensed establishments.  This would also legalize regulated electronic bingo, black jack and other games in liquor or brewed beverage licensed establishments.

Distributors and Manufacturers will have to $10,000 just for a license for the video games.  The vendors that sell to the distributors will have to pay a whopping $25,000 for the first 50 machines and an additional $500 per machine after 50.

Please read the article as there is additional information regarding the HB1932 legislation that I have not included in my summary above.

Blog writers note:

We will soon be opening up our Gaming Forum for our SDS SGOC customers.  The forum is a place where we will post Small Games of Chance and Charity Gaming details that will not be posted on this public Blog.  We will (on occasion) open part of the forum to specific guests.

If you are a current SDS SGOC customer and you would like access to our Gaming forum when it is available, please email us or contact us via our contact page and include your name and the Post and/or Fraternal organization that you are with and we will reply with a username and password for you to access our insiders-only Gaming forum when it becomes available. 

http://www.myersintsystems.com/contact.html

 

 

Resources:

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/guest-comment/2014/06/pennsylvania-tavern-gaming-may-make-a-comeback.html

PA SGOC Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement Publishes updated Schedules

The PA BLCE published new and updated Schedules for all SGOC licensees. 

As of this blog post (April 27, 2014), The bottom of the PA BLCE SGOC page still has a message stating they are reviewing recent changes, however it appears they posted their interpretation and as previously reported in this blog, the PA BLCE interpretation is 'in-line' with the PA Department of Revenue's published interpretation.

What’s old?

You will want to ignore the last document listed on the site as it appears to be an older version of the Bureau’s interpretation.  The document references of $5000 max payout and keeping winners information for prizes $101.  These totals are no longer accurate.  The current total requirements are stated in the first pdf file listed which is the ‘Explanation of SGOC Schedules”.

Ignore this document;

 

 

What’s new?

The Schedule 3 description clearly states (as does the PA Dept. of Revenues) that licensees requirement for recording prizes in excess of $600.  I personally know of many organizations that are still recording the winners over $100.  Please note that you can continue to record the winners information for the over $100 winners if you wish, however the requirement is now greater than $600 so you do not have to keep winners information if it is not greater than $600.

    Schedule 3 description;

Schedule 8, Race Night Records

Ignore Schedule 7, Pools as it is not legal and will not be used;

Are there any organizations that are planning on having the Race Nights?  If so, please know you can only have 1 every calendar month. 

Of course our Sienna Database System will be modified to include the Schedule 8 Race Night. 

If you have any questions or comments or would like a demonstration of our Point of Sale and/or SDS Small Games of Chance Compliance systems please leave a comment and/or contact us at DKellyMyers@myersintsystems.com or call 1-844-GET-SGOC (1-844-438-7462).

Resources:
http://www.lce.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/hide_-_liquor_control_enforcement/5900/small_games_of_chance_schedules/501941

 

 

 

 

PA Small Games of Chance

As of today – April 19, 2014 – The PA LCE Bureau has not yet published their interpretation of the recent PA Small Games of Chance Laws.  As mentioned in our last blog, I have been told by the Bureau that their interpretation will be in-line with the PA Department of Revenue’s interpretation. 

I imagine there will be at least one additional Schedule forthcoming (night at the races) so I would expect the Bureau to publish their interpretation or at least the new Schedule sometime (hopefully before the end of 2014).

This Blog’s Opinion:

We all know that the Governor Corbett is disappointed with the lack of Taverns applying for a Small Games of Chance license.  Don’t be surprised if we have another round of SGOC Law changes sometime in the future.  The next round will probably make obtaining a SGOC license for Taverns more attractive and probably also less of an effort to obtain.

SDS SGOC System update:

We recently updated our website to include our updated brochure and several  new SDS 3.0 “How to Videos”.  
 

May is less than 2 weeks away and Small Games of Chance Licensee’s in Pennsylvania that are not using our SDS 3.0 SGOC System will have 5 months of Gaming activity to enter into the system if they purchase the system in May (and more to enter if they purchase after May). 

 

The longer you go without the system the more game activity you will have to enter in order to file electronically with us by the February 1, 2015 deadline.   If you want to significantly shorten the amount of time you spend recording your gaming activity and reduce the over/short amount losses that you may be getting, contact us or call us to schedule a demonstration of our system.  

 

With the introduction of our SDS Core system there is no excuse for any organization to get fined or possibly lose your SGOC license for poor record keeping or insufficient records.  The SDS system provides you with the tools to easily and quickly enter your SGOC activity into the system.  After entering your activity you can produce ALL PA BLCE schedules AND we will report your 2014 SGOC Activity electronically with the PA Department of Revenue in early 2015 (you will not have to key in your activity into the states website).

We have published a list of some of our customers on our site, feel free to contact any of our customers and ask them if they like the system. 

Note:  Only customers that granted us permission to list them are listed on our site.

 

Have a Blessed and Happy Easter!

 

~D. Kelly Myers

 

PS.
Lets Go Pens!!

Lets Go Bucs!!

Luck running out for PA SGOC organizations involved with Shenanigans!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  May the luck of the Irish be upon you all (if you wish it to be).

As of today - March 17, 2014 – The PA LCE Bureau has not yet published their interpretation of the recent PA Small Games of Chance Laws.  I have been told by the Bureau that their interpretation will be in-line with the PA Department of Revenue’s interpretation.

The new Schedule(s) for the Racing Games is hopefully going to be included when the PA LCE Bureau publishes their interpretation on their website. http://www.lce.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/hide_-_liquor_control_enforcement/5900/small_games_of_chance/501941

Below is a short list of things we are finding as Posts/Lodges and other fraternal and social organizations inquire about our SDS SGOC system:

Usually the person responsible for keeping the records is the person that makes contact with us. 

This person usually tells us they need to ‘convince’ the Organizations Officers to purchase the system. 

·         The officers of the club that need to be convinced have almost never had to be responsible for keeping the records for SGOC.  They have no idea of the amount of work it takes to manually enter and re-enter data on to the different Schedules in addition to keeping track of the money, donations, deposits etc.  They do not realize that each game MUST be tracked, recorded and reported by serial number. 

·         Sometimes the officers that do not want the club to purchase the system have their own reason/purpose to not want to help the club be accountable for the SGOC Activity.  Their reason/purpose for not wanting to have the system in place may be because they may not be able to benefit from the SGOC activity as they have in the past.

Now that the PA LCE Bureau and the PA Department of Revenue will BOTH be enforcing the recording and reporting SGOC Laws (along with local Law Enforcement officials), you can be certain that any Organization that is not being accountable for their SGOC activity will eventually be caught.  In addition to requiring the organizations that have net proceeds over $20,000 to file electronically, the PA LCE Bureau and PA Department of Revenue will now arrest and prosecute people involved with inappropriate SGOC activity.  Not only can your organization lose your SGOC license and be fined, persons involved will be arrested and prosecuted. 

We have made our SDS SGOC system more affordable for the smaller Posts/Lodges and other smaller Organizations by introducing our SDS Core version which will be available soon.  SDS Core will not have the ‘bells and whistles’ that the original SDS Packages offer but it does produce all of the PA LCE Bureau Schedules and you can file electronically with the PA Department of Revenue via Myers Integrated Systems, LLC.

Keep in mind the longer you go without using the SDS SGOC System, the more you may have to pay for on-site assistance in order to bring your 2014 SGOC Activity up to current. 

We hope to have our new brochures and our latest version SDS 3.0 available within the next few weeks.  SDS 3.0 has been enhanced to make the user experience even easier than before (most customers say that it was already intuitive and easy to begin with!).

"May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, may good luck pursue you each morning and night" - Irish Blessing

~D. Kelly Myers

PA Governor disappointed - only 6 Tavern SGOC Applications and 2 were incomplete

If you have been following this blog, you know that we have been saying that most Taverns would not be choosing to apply for their SGOC license due to the heavy taxation and requirements.

Yesterday (2/20/2014) there were several articles printed in local newspapers stating the Governor and State Department are finding that Taverns are not lining up for their SGOC licenses.

Here are a couple articles for you to check out:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/02/pa_state_budget_small_games_of.html

http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/579179.html

Make sure you cheer on our USA Hockey team today as they take on Canada with the winner advancing to play for the GOLD !

"PA SGOC 60/40 split is for entire 2014 calendar year" ~PA Depart. of Rev. Interpretation of recent Law Changes

This Just In:

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue updated their SGOC website today and posted the attached an SGOC_overview.pdf document that you can download.

While Myers Integrated Systems, LLC will be reading through this document thoroughly to ensure our Sienna Database System 3.0 (aka 60-40 version) addresses all requirements, we noticed the following during our initial perusal on the bottom of page 7;

We are hopeful that the PA BLCE will be consistent with their interpretation of when the 70/30-60/40 are in effect.   As of the writing of this Blog (2/7/2014) they have not yet published their interpretation of the recent law changes. 

If you are looking to protect your SGOC license, look no further than our Sienna Database System.  With the SDS System you receive system alerts to notify you when you are getting close to "net proceeds" of $20,000,  $40,000 or any another amount you define.  Be notified when your weekly payouts reach an amount you specify (like $33,000, so you don't exceed $35,000).  The SDS system is unparalleled and is your one-stop Accountability Resource for SGOC Recording, Tracking and Reporting. 

Call us at 844.GET.SGOC (844-438-7462) to learn more or schedule a demo of our system.  We offer interest free financing.  We are also partnering with several Point of Sale Systems so we can offer you a complete 'one-stop' solution to your Small Games of Chance Accountability and Point of Sale needs.

 Good Luck to all United States Athletes at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics!!

 

 

 

Resources:

http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/small_games_of_chance/14500

 

PA Tavern SGOC Tavern Gaming Informational Sessions

The PA Department of Revenue has updated their SGOC page to include upcoming Tavern SGOC Gaming Informational Sessions for Taverns.

The sessions are being held in 7 locations across Pennsylvania beginning 1/14/14 in Harrisburg and ending 1/24/14 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

If you own a Tavern and you are thinking about obtaining a PA SGOC license, I strongly suggest you register and attend one of these seminars.

Upcoming Tavern Seminars:

http://www.eventbrite.com/o/5821838583?s=20810667



Resource:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/small_games_of_chance/14500