Senate Bill No. 473
(By Senators Ross, Anderson, Sharpe and Sprouse)
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[Introduced February 9, 1999; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article twenty,
chapter forty-seven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
allowing charitable contributions from bingo profits; and
authorizing proposal of rules for promulgation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article twenty, chapter forty-seven of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. CHARITABLE BINGO.
§47-20-15. Payment of reasonable expenses from proceeds; net proceeds disbursement.
(a) The reasonable, necessary and actual expenses incurred
in connection with the conduct of bingo occasions, not to exceed twenty-five percent of the gross proceeds collected during a
license period, may be paid out of the gross proceeds of the
conduct of bingo, including, but not limited to:
(1) Rent paid for the use of the premises:
Provided, That
a copy of the rental agreement was filed with the bingo license
application and any changes to the rental agreement were filed
within ten days of being made:
Provided, however, That in no
event may the rent paid for the use of any premises exceed the
fair market value of rent for the premises;
(2) The cost of custodial services;
(3) The cost to the licensee organization for equipment and
supplies used to conduct the bingo occasion;
(4) The cost to the licensee organization for advertising
the bingo occasion;
(5) The cost of hiring security personnel, licensed pursuant
to the provisions of article eighteen, chapter thirty of this
code; and
(6) The cost of providing child care services to the raffle patrons:
Provided, That any proceeds received from the provision
of child care services shall be handled the same as raffle
proceeds.
(b) The actual cost to the licensee for prizes, not to
exceed the amounts as specified in section ten of this article,
may be paid out of the gross proceeds of the conduct of bingo.
(c) The cost of any refreshments, souvenirs or any other
item sold or otherwise provided through any concession to the
patrons may not be paid for out of the gross proceeds from the
bingo occasion. The licensee shall expend all net bingo proceeds
and any interest earned on the proceeds for the charitable or
public service purposes stated in the application within one year
after the expiration of the license under which the bingo
occasions were conducted. A licensee which does not qualify as
a qualified recipient organization may apply to the commissioner
at the time it applies for a bingo license or as provided in
subsection (e) of this section for permission to apply any or all
of its net proceeds to directly support a charitable or public
service activity or endeavor which it sponsors.
(d) No gross proceeds from any bingo operation may be devoted or in any manner used by any licensee or qualified
recipient organization for the construction or acquisition of
real or personal property except that which is used exclusively
for one or more charitable or public service purposes or as
provided in subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section.
(e) The tax commissioner has the authority to disapprove any
contract for sale of goods or services to any charitable bingo
licensee for use in or with relation to any charitable bingo
operation or occasion, or any lease of real or tangible personal
property to any charitable bingo licensee for use in or with
relation to any charitable bingo operation or occasion, if the
contract or lease is unreasonable or not representative of fair
market value. Contracts or leases which are disapproved shall be
considered to be in contravention of this article, and are void.
Any attempt by any charitable bingo licensee to engage in
transactions under the terms of any lease or contract that has
been disapproved is grounds for revocation or suspension of the
charitable bingo license and for refusal by the tax commissioner
to renew the charitable bingo license.
(f) If a property owner or lessee, including his or her agent, has entered into a rental contract to hold super bingo
occasions on his or her premises, the premises shall be rented,
for super bingo occasions, to not more than four super bingo
licensees during any period of four consecutive calendar weeks:
Provided, That each of the charitable or public service
organizations desiring to hold a super bingo occasion must
possess its own super bingo license. Subject to this limitation,
the premises may be used for super bingo occasions during two
consecutive days during a conventional weekend. For purposes of
this subsection, the term "conventional weekend" means Saturday
and Sunday:
Provided,
however, That the super bingo occasions
may occur at the same facility no more often than alternating
weekends during a calendar month.
(g) Any licensee which, in good faith, finds itself unable
to comply with the requirements of this provision shall apply to
the commissioner for permission to expend its net proceeds for
one or more charitable or public service purposes other than that
stated in its license application or for permission to expend its
net proceeds later than the one-year time period specified in
this section. The application shall be on a form furnished by the commissioner and shall include the particulars of the
requested changes and the reasons for the changes. The
application shall be filed no later than sixty days before the
end of the one-year period specified in this section. In the
case of an application to extend the time in which the net
proceeds are to be expended for a charitable or public service
purpose, the licensee shall file such periodic reports with the
commissioner as the commissioner directs until the proceeds are
expended.
(h) Notwithstanding any provisions in this section to the
contrary, a licensee or licensee organization may use up to fifty
percent of the net proceeds from bingo for expenditure on
charitable or public service purposes: Provided, That in order
to expend proceeds pursuant to this subsection, the licensee must
make an application to the commissioner, on a form prescribed by
the commissioner; the approved application to be automatically
renewable from year to year. The commissioner shall propose
rules for legislative approval pursuant to article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which further the intention of
this subsection.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow charitable
contributions from bingo profits, and to authorize the tax
commissioner to propose rules pertaining to such contributions
for legislative promulgation.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.