Casino owners want state to reduce admission fees

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 2:39 a.m.

A lawsuit heard before the Missouri Supreme Court Wednesday claims the current $2 per patron fee - with $1 going to the state, and $1 to the home dock city or county - is too much.

If the gambling boats win the lawsuit, the state would have to find other sources of revenue for preschools, veterans homes, college scholarships and other programs that depend on gambling fees.

Bill Brasher, an attorney representing President Riverboat Casino in St. Louis, argued that the state's $1 fee was designed to cover only the administrative costs of the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Casinos separately reimburse the state for the salaries, benefits and cars of Missouri Highway Patrol officers who work on the boats.

Because of soaring casino admissions, the $1 fee generates far more than needed to run regulators' offices, casinos say. For example, last year the Gaming Commission spent $12.9 million and funneled a surplus of $40.7 million to other programs. The commission spent $11.9 million in 1998, leaving $30.9 million for other uses.

The excess fees "should be remitted or reduced to a reasonable approximation of the cost" of regulating gambling, Brasher said.

In separate proceedings, casinos have asked the Gaming Commission to refund fees paid in excess of administrative costs. Refunding all surpluses since the first boats opened in 1994 could cost the state $100 million to $150 million, gambling officials said.

The Legislature earmarked the extra money for programs such as early childhood education, college scholarships, funeral details for military veterans, renovation of a World War I memorial in Kansas City and construction of veterans homes.

For example, the state is staffing 16 military funerals a day, said Brig. Gen. Jim Baker, an assistant adjutant general. Uniformed teams fold the flag, sound a rifle salute and play taps. Losing the gambling money would kill the program, Baker said.

Mike Bradley, an assistant attorney general, said casinos were asking the high court to order the Gaming Commission to disobey "clear and unambiguous statutes" assessing the fees and allotting the money for various purposes.

Gambling officials and legislators say they knew the fee would generate a surplus that could fund unrelated projects.

"That was clearly the intent, and casinos all knew it coming in," said Sen. Wayne Goode, D-Normandy and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "I feel the state is in pretty good position" legally, he said.

Budget Director Mark Ward said if casinos prevail in the lawsuit, "it would be difficult, if not impossible" to replace the lost revenue.