H. B. 2531
(By Delegates Manuel and Doyle)
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article twenty-two-a,
chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
racetrack video lottery; distribution of income; records and
auditing; and requiring that one half of one percent of
video lottery income be distributed by population to each
municipality within the county in which the video lottery
terminals are located.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article twenty-two-a, chapter twenty-nine
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22A. RACETRACK VIDEO LOTTERY.
§29-22A-10. Accounting and reporting; commission to provide communications protocol data; distribution of net terminal income; remittance through
electronic transfer of funds; establishment of
accounts and nonpayment penalties; commission control of
accounting for net terminal income; settlement of
accounts; manual reporting and payment may be required;
request for reports; examination of accounts and
records.
(a) The commission shall provide to manufacturers, or
applicants applying for a manufacturer's permit, the protocol
documentation data necessary to enable the respective
manufacturer's video lottery terminals to communicate with the
commission's central computer for transmitting auditing program
information and for activation and disabling of video lottery
terminals.
(b) The gross terminal income of a licensed racetrack shall
be remitted to the commission through the electronic transfer of
funds. Licensed racetracks shall furnish to the commission all
information and bank authorizations required to facilitate the
timely transfer of moneys to the commission. Licensed racetracks
must shall provide the commission thirty days' advance notice of
any proposed account changes in order to assure the uninterrupted
electronic transfer of funds. From the gross terminal income remitted by the licensee to the commission, the commission shall
deduct an amount sufficient to reimburse the commission for its
actual costs and expenses incurred in administering racetrack
video lottery at the licensed racetrack, and the resulting amount
after
such the deduction shall be the net terminal income. The
amount deducted for administrative costs and expenses of the
commission may not exceed four percent of gross terminal income.
(c) Net terminal income shall be divided as set out in this
subsection. The licensed racetrack's share shall be in lieu of
all lottery agent commissions and is considered to cover all
costs and expenses required to be expended by the licensed
racetrack in connection with video lottery operations. The
division shall be made as follows:
(1) The commission shall receive thirty percent of net
terminal income, which shall be paid into the general revenue
fund of the state to be appropriated by the Legislature;
(2) Fourteen percent of net terminal income at a licensed
racetrack shall be deposited in the special fund established by
the licensee, and used for payment of regular purses in addition
to other amounts provided for in article twenty-three, chapter
nineteen of this code;
(3) The county where the video lottery terminals are located
shall receive two percent of the net terminal income,
of which one half of one percent shall be distributed by population to
each municipality within the county;
(4) One half of one percent of net terminal income shall be
paid for and on behalf of all employees of the licensed racing
association by making a deposit into a special fund to be
established by the racing commission to be used for payment into
the pension plan for all employees of the licensed racing
association;
(5) The West Virginia thoroughbred development fund created
under section thirteen-b, article twenty-three, chapter nineteen
of this code and the West Virginia greyhound breeding development
fund created under section ten, article twenty-three, chapter
nineteen of this code shall receive an equal share of a total of
not less than one and one-half percent of the net terminal
income:
Provided, That for any racetrack which does not have a
breeder's program supported by the thoroughbred development fund
or the greyhound breeding development fund, the one and one-half
percent provided for in this subdivision shall be deposited in
the special fund established by the licensee and used for payment
of regular purses, in addition to other amounts provided for in
subdivision (2) of this subsection and article twenty-three,
chapter nineteen of this code;
(6) The West Virginia thoroughbred breeders classic shall receive one percent of the net terminal income which shall be
used for purses.
The moneys shall be deposited in the separate
account established for the classic under section thirteen,
article twenty-three, chapter nineteen of this code;
(7) A licensee shall receive forty-seven percent of net
terminal income;
(8) The tourism promotion fund established in section nine,
article one, chapter five-b of this code shall receive three
percent of the net terminal income; and
(9) The veterans memorial program shall receive one percent
of the net terminal income until sufficient moneys have been
received to complete the veterans memorial on the grounds of the
state capitol complex in Charleston, West Virginia. The moneys
shall be deposited in the state treasury in the division of
culture and history special fund created under section three,
article one-i, chapter twenty-nine of this code:
Provided, That
only after sufficient moneys have been deposited in the fund to
complete the veterans memorial and to pay in full the annual
bonded indebtedness on the veterans memorial, not more than
twenty thousand dollars of the one percent of net terminal income
provided for in this subdivision shall be deposited into a
special revenue fund in the state treasury, to be known as the
"John F. 'Jack' Bennett Fund". The moneys in this fund shall be expended by the division of veterans affairs to provide for the
placement of markers for the graves of veterans in perpetual
cemeteries in this state. The division of veterans affairs shall
promulgate legislative rules pursuant to the provisions of
article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code specifying the
manner in which the funds are spent, determine the ability of the
surviving spouse to pay for the placement of the marker, and
setting forth the standards to be used to determine the priority
in which the veterans grave markers will be placed in the event
that there are not sufficient funds to complete the placement of
veterans grave markers in any one year, or at all. The remainder
of the one percent of terminal income shall then continue to be
deposited in the special fund in the division of culture and
history created under section three, article one-i, chapter
twenty-nine of this code and be expended by the division of
culture and history to establish a West Virginia veterans
memorial archives within the cultural center to serve as a
repository for the documents and records pertaining to the
veterans memorial, to restore and maintain the monuments and
memorial on the capitol grounds and to pay the salary and
benefits of a director of monuments. The director of monuments
shall be responsible for restoring and maintaining all monuments
and memorials situated upon the grounds of the capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, and, to the extent there are moneys
remaining in this fund thereafter, the director of monuments may
use the balance to landscape the capitol grounds. The director
of monuments shall be under the supervision of and report to the
commissioner of the division of culture and history. The
provisions of this subdivision relating to the creation of the
position of director of monuments shall be effective the first
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
(d) Each licensed racetrack shall maintain in its account an
amount equal to or greater than the gross terminal income from
its operation of video lottery machines, to be electronically
transferred by the commission on dates established by the
commission. Upon a licensed racetrack's failure to maintain this
balance, the commission may disable all of a licensed racetrack's
video lottery terminals until full payment of all amounts due is
made. Interest shall accrue on any unpaid balance at a rate
consistent with the amount charged for state income tax
delinquency under chapter eleven of this code, which interest
shall begin to accrue on the date payment is due to the
commission.
(e) The commission's central control computer shall keep
accurate records of all income generated by each video lottery
terminal. The commission shall prepare and mail to the licensed racetrack a statement reflecting the gross terminal income
generated by the licensee's video lottery terminals. Each
licensed racetrack must report to the commission any
discrepancies between the commission's statement and each
terminal's mechanical and electronic meter readings. The
licensed racetrack is solely responsible for resolving income
discrepancies between actual money collected and the amount shown
on the accounting meters or on the commission's billing
statement.
(f) Until an accounting discrepancy is resolved in favor of
the licensed racetrack, the commission may make no credit
adjustments. For any video lottery terminal reflecting a
discrepancy, the licensed racetrack shall submit to the
commission the maintenance log which includes current mechanical
meter readings and the audit ticket which contains electronic
meter readings generated by the terminal's software. If the
meter readings and the commission's records cannot be reconciled,
final disposition of the matter shall be determined by the
commission. Any accounting discrepancies which cannot be
otherwise resolved shall be resolved in favor of the commission.
(g) Licensed racetracks shall remit payment by mail if the
electronic transfer of funds is not operational or the commission
notifies licensed racetracks that remittance by this method is required. The licensed racetracks shall report an amount equal
to the total amount of cash inserted into each video lottery
terminal operated by a licensee, minus the total value of game
credits which are cleared from the video lottery terminal in
exchange for winning redemption tickets, and remit
such the
amount as generated from its terminals during the reporting
period. The remittance shall be sealed in a properly addressed
and stamped envelope and deposited in the United States mail no
later than noon on the day when the payment would otherwise be
completed through electronic funds transfer.
(h) Licensed racetracks may, upon request, receive
additional reports of play transactions for their respective
video lottery terminals and other marketing information not
considered confidential by the commission. The commission may
charge a reasonable fee for the cost of producing and mailing any
report other than the billing statements.
(i) The commission has the right to examine all accounts,
bank accounts, financial statements and records in a licensed
racetrack's possession, under its control or in which it has an
interest and the licensed racetrack
must shall authorize all
third parties in possession or in control of the accounts or
records to allow examination of any of those accounts or records
by the commission.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that one half
of one percent of racetrack video lottery income be distributed
by population to each municipality within the county in which the
video lottery terminals are located.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.