Slot tavern license would mean more taxes for the state
A number of gaming bills will be addressed in Nevada’s next legislative session. Issues on the agenda could include the regulations that apply to the Dotty’s chain of restaurants and other slot taverns that now operate under restricted gaming licenses.
Critics including the Nevada Resort Association, the gaming industry’s top trade organization, say taverns like Dotty’s earn too much revenue from slot machines to be considered primarily restaurants. Under state law, gaming is supposed to be “incidental” to the taverns’ overall business, which is mainly to serve food and drink.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Senator Tick Segerblom of Las Vegas wants to revisit the regulation of establishments like those in the Dotty’s chain, saying they do not pay their “fair share” in taxes.
Vegasinc.com reports that Segerblom has proposed creating a new gaming license category just for slot parlors. The new license would require a business to pay more taxes than establishments with restricted licenses, but less than casinos, which qualify for unrestricted licenses.
“I’m not sure it would make a big difference, but one of the fights is the Dotty’s issue,” Segerblom said. “From my perspective, they really don’t pay their fair way.”
Not surprisingly, technology is also on the docket. The past legislative session created a committee to assess “regulations that encourage development and deployment of gaming devices incorporating innovative, alternative, and advanced technologies.”
“There’s going to be new technologies and new ideas that pop up, and any hindrances to allowing those to the floor, I think the committee was saying, should be removed to the extent allowable,” said Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett. “But we need to continue strict gaming regulation and uphold our standards.”
The control board wants a bill that will streamline some gaming technology regulations, reported Vegasinc.com. Burnett called it a way to “continue to get our arms around some of the new things that are coming to the gaming floor.”
