Certain limits to charitable gambling are set to be imposed in the state of Minnesota. At its meeting the beginning of the month, the City Council of Vadnais Heights unanimously decided to take certain measures, under which non-profit organizations would not be permitted to expand to more than two sites.
As revealed by Terry Nyblom, a Councilman, he wanted to make sure that charity organizations which make contributions within the city, are not overshadowed by organizations located in other cities, which could lead to massive losses of charitable money. According to Mr. Nyblom, non-profit organizations currently support a lot of activities in the city, but their contribution could be pushed out of Vadnais Heights by other charities. He added that in case that the city is stripped of charitable gambling contributions which are redirected to various city services, local taxes are very likely to increase or the services to see lower quality provided to customers.
Under the new rules, organizations such as WBLAHA, an abbreviation which stands for White Bear Lake Area Hockey Association, would not be allowed to expand to more than two sites of charitable gambling in the city.
However, according to Minnesota state law, cities are not permitted to put limits on non-profit organizations situated in neighbouring cities, blocking them from offering charitable gambling. Still, according to a research carried out by Caroline Bell Beckman, the City Attorney, cities are allowed to require from charities based in adjacent cities to spend their entire gambling proceeds within the trade area of the city.
Local Organizations Support Charitable Gambling
A few years earlier, the charitable gambling activity of the Vadnais Heights Fire Relief Association got replaced by WBLAHA in a local business site. Bars, on the other hand, decide on themselves which charity they would like to collaborate with in terms of charitable gambling.
For the time being both Merrick and WBLAHA operate on charitable gambling activities in two Vadnais Heights-located bars. Currently, the Vadnais Inn hosts the operations of the Vadnais Heights Lions, but the place is set to be demolished for construction works at the Rice Street bridge’s intersection.
The meeting of Vadnais Heights’ City Council was attended by attorneys and official representatives of both WBLAHA and Jimmy’s. At the time when the new rule was proposed, the two organization’s lawyers said they would not protest against the ordinance, but to express their fears related to possible future limits imposed.
According to the 2017 annual report of the Gambling Control Board of Minnesota, Merrick was the charity with the largest contribution to charitable gambling in the state over the last fiscal year. The non-profit organization grossed an overall amount of $25.1 million, of which $3.7 were contributed directly to its cause. On the other hand, WBLAHA generated the third-highest GGR contributed to charitable gambling in the afore-mentioned period. As revealed by the local Gambling regulatory body, the Association grossed a total of about $16.8 million, with $2.5 million contributed for its cause and $14.2 million given away in prize money.
