ARTICLE 14-H
LOCAL OPTION FOR CONDUCT OF
BINGO BY CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS
Section:
475. Short title; purpose of article.
§ 475. Short title; purpose of article. This article shall be know and may be cited as the bingo licensing law. The legislature hereby declares that the raising of funds for the promotion of bona fide charitable, educational, scientific, health, religious, civic and patriotic causes and undertakings, where the beneficiaries are indefinite, is in the public interest. It hereby finds that, as conducted prior to the enactment of this article, bingo was the subject of exploitation by professional gamblers, promoters, and commercial interests. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the legislature that all phases of the supervision, licensing and regulation of bingo and of the conduct of bingo games, should be closely controlled and that the laws and regulations pertaining thereto should be strictly construed and rigidly enforced; that the conduct of the game and all attendant activities should be so regulated and adequate controls so instituted as to discourage commercialization in all its forms, including the rental of commercial premises for bingo games, and to ensure a maximum availability of the net proceeds of bingo exclusively for application to the worthy causes and undertakings specified herein; that the only justification for this article is to foster and support such worthy causes and undertakings, and that the mandate of section nine of article one of the state constitution, as amended, should be carried out by rigid regulation to prevent commercialized gambling, prevent participation by criminal and other undesirable elements and prevent the diversion of funds from the purposes herein authorized.
§ 476.
Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
1.
"Municipality"
shall mean any
city, town or village within the state.
2. "Control commission" or
"commission" shall mean
the state racing and wagering board.
3. "Bingo" or "game"
shall mean and include a specific game of chance, commonly known
as bingo or lotto, in which prizes
are awarded on the basis of designated numbers or symbols on a card
conforming to numbers or symbols selected at random.
4.
"Authorized
organization" shall mean
and include any bona fide religious
or charitable organization or
bona fide educational, fraternal, civic
or service organization or bona
fide organization of veterans, volunteer firefighters, or volunteer ambulance
workers, which by its
charter, certificate of incorporation,
constitution, or act of the legislature, shall have among its dominant purposes
one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this
article, provided that each shall operate
without profit to
its members, and provided that each such organization has
engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article for a
period of one year immediately prior to applying for a license under this
article.
5.
"Bingo control law" shall mean article nineteen-B of the
executive law.
6. "Lawful purposes" shall mean one
or more of the following causes, deeds or activities:
(a)
Those which shall benefit needy or deserving persons indefinite in number by
enhancing their opportunity
for religious or educational
advancement, by relieving them from disease, suffering or distress,
or by contributing to
their physical well-being,
by assisting them in establishing themselves in life as worthy and useful
citizens, or by increasing
their comprehension of and devotion to the principles upon which
this nation was founded and enhancing
their loyalty to
their governments;
(b) Those which shall initiate,
perform or foster worthy public works or shall enable or
further the erection
or maintenance of
public structures;
(c) Those which
shall initiate, perform or foster the provisions of services to veterans
by encouraging the gathering of such
veterans and shall enable
or further the erection or
maintenance of facilities for use by such veterans which shall be used primarily
for charitable or patriotic
purposes, or those
purposes which shall be authorized by a bona fide organization of
veterans, provided however that such
proceeds are disbursed in accordance with the rules and regulations of
the racing and wagering board.
(d)
Those which shall otherwise lessen the burdens borne by government or which
are voluntarily undertaken by an authorized organization to
augment or supplement services which government would normally render to the people.
7.
"Net proceeds" shall mean (a) in relation to
the gross receipts from
one or more occasions of bingo, the amount that shall remain after
deducting the reasonable sums
necessarily and actually
expended for bingo supplies and equipment, prizes, stated rental
if any, bookkeeping or accounting services
according to a
schedule of compensation prescribed by the
commission, janitorial services and utility supplies
if any, license fees, and the cost of bus transportation, if authorized by
the control commission, and
(b) in relation
to the gross rent received by an organization licensed to conduct bingo
for the use of its premises by
another licensee, the
amount that shall
remain after deducting the
reasonable sums necessarily
and actually expended for janitorial services and utility supplies
directly attributable thereto if any.
8.
"Net lease" shall
mean a written agreement between a lessor and
lessee under the
terms of which
the lessee is
entitled to the possession, use or occupancy
of the whole or part of any
commercial premises for which the lessee pays
rent to the lessor and likewise undertakes to pay substantially all of the regularly
recurring expenses incident to the operation and maintenance of such leased premises.
9. "Authorized commercial
lessor"
shall mean a
person, firm or corporation other than a licensee to conduct bingo under
the provisions of this article, who or which shall own or be a net lessee of
premises and offer the
same for leasing
by him or
it to an
authorized organization for any consideration whatsoever, direct or indirect,
for the purpose of conducting
bingo therein, provided that he or it, as the case may be, shall not be
(a) a person convicted of a crime who has
not received a pardon or a certificate of good conduct;
(b)
a person who is
or has been a professional gambler or gambling promoter or who for other
reasons is not of good moral character;
(c) a
public officer who
receives any consideration, direct
or indirect, as owner
or lessor of premises offered for the purpose of
conducting bingo therein;
(d) a firm or corporation in which a person
defined in subdivision (a), (b) or (c) above or a person
married or related in the first degree to
such a person has greater than a ten percentum (10 %) proprietary, equitable or credit interest
or in which such a person
is active or employed. Nothing contained
in this subdivision shall be
construed to bar any firm or corporation which is not organized for pecuniary
profit and no part
of the net
earnings of which
inure to the
benefit of any individual,
member, or shareholder, from being an authorized commercial lessor solely
because a public officer, or a person married or related in the first
degree to a public officer, is a member of,
active in or employed by such firm or corporation.
10.
"Limited period bingo"
shall mean the
conduct of bingo by a licensed authorized organization, for a period of
not more than seven of twelve consecutive days in any one year, at a festival,
bazaar, carnival or similar function conducted by such licensed authorized organization. No authorized
organization licensed to
conduct limited period bingo shall be otherwise eligible to conduct
bingo pursuant to this article in the same year.
11. "Supercard"
shall mean a bingo card on which prizes
are awarded, which card
is selected by
the player, containing
five designated numbers, colors or symbols, corresponding to the letters
B, I, N, G, O, displayed on the
bingo board of the bingo premises operator, which can be played concurrently
with the other bingo cards played during the game of bingo.
11-a. "Early bird" shall mean
a bingo
game which is
played as a special
game, conducted not more than twice during a bingo occasion, in which prizes
are awarded based
upon a percentage
not to exceed seventy-five percent
of the sum of money received from the sale of the early bird cards and
which is
neither subject to
the prize limits imposed by
subdivisions five and
six of section
four hundred seventy-nine and
paragraph (a) of
subdivision one of
section four hundred eighty-one,
nor the special
game opportunity charge limit imposed by section
four hundred eighty-nine
of this article.
The percentage shall be specified
both in the application for bingo license and the license. Not more than one
dollar shall be charged per card with the total amount collected from the sale
of the early bird cards and the prize for each game to be announced before
the commencement of
each game.
11-b. "Bonus ball" shall mean a bingo game that is played in conjunction with one or more regular or special bingo games designated as bonus ball games by the licensed authorized organization during one or more consecutive bingo occasions in which a prize is awarded to the player obtaining a specified winning bingo pattern when the last number called by the licensed authorized organization is the designated bonus ball number. The bonus ball prize shall be based upon a percentage of the sales from opportunities to participate in bonus ball games not to exceed seventy-five percent of the sum of money received from the sale of bonus ball opportunities or six thousand dollars, whichever shall be less, and which is not subject to the prize limits imposed by subdivisions five and six of section four hundred seventy-nine and paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section four hundred eighty-one of this article. The percentage shall be specified both in the application for the bingo license and the license. Notwithstanding section four hundred eighty-nine of this article, not more than one dollar shall be charged per player for an opportunity to participate in all bonus ball games conducted during a single bingo occasion, and the total amount collected from the sale of bonus ball opportunities and the amount of the prize to be awarded shall be announced prior to the start of each bingo occasion.
12.
"Prize", where supercard is played as set forth in subdivision eleven
of this section, shall mean the sum of money or actual value
of merchandise awarded to
the winner or winners on a game
card during a game of bingo and the sum
of money or
actual value of
merchandise awarded to the winner or winners on a supercard in excess of the total receipts derived from the
sale of supercards for that specific game.
§ 477. Local
option. Subject to the provisions of this article, and pursuant to the
direction contained in subdivision two of
section nine of article one of the constitution of the state,
the legislature hereby gives and grants to every municipality the right, power
and authority to authorize the conduct of bingo games by authorized
organizations within the territorial
limits of such
municipality provided, however, that where the electors of a village
shall hereafter approve a local law or ordinance
pursuant to section
four hundred seventy-eight
of this article, the right, power
and authority under this article of any town in which such village is located shall
not extend to such village during such time as such village local law or
ordinance is in effect.
§ 478.
Local laws and ordinances. 1. The common council or other local legislative
body of any
municipality may, either
by local law or ordinance, provide
that it shall
be lawful for
any authorized organization,
upon obtaining a license therefor as hereinafter
provided, to conduct the
game of bingo
within the territorial limits of such municipality, subject to the
provisions of such local law or
ordinance, the provisions of this
article, and the provisions of the bingo control law.
2.
No such local law or ordinance shall become operative or effective unless and
until it shall have
been approved by a majority of
the electors voting on a proposition
submitted at a
general or special election held
within such municipality who are qualified to vote for
officers of such municipality.
3. The time,
method and manner
of submission, preparation
and provision of ballots and
ballot labels, balloting by voting machine and conducting the election,
canvassing the result and making and filing the returns and all other procedure
with reference to the submission of and
action upon any
proposition for the approval of any such local law or ordinance shall be
the same as in the case of any other
proposition to be submitted
to the electors
of such municipality at a general or special election
in such municipality, as provided by law.
§ 479. Restrictions upon conduct of bingo games.
The conduct of bingo games authorized by local law or ordinance
shall be subject
to the following restrictions
irrespective of whether
the restrictions are contained in such local law or ordinance; but
nothing herein shall
be construed to prevent the inclusion within such local law or ordinance
of other provisions imposing
additional restrictions upon the conduct of bingo games:
1.
No person, firm, association, corporation
or organization, other than a licensee under the provisions of
this article, shall conduct such game
or shall lease or otherwise make
available for conducting bingo a hall or other premises for
any consideration whatsoever,
direct or indirect.
2. No bingo
games shall be held, operated or conducted on or within any leased
premises if rental under such lease is to be paid, wholly or partly,
on the basis
of a percentage of the receipts
or net profits derived from the operation of such game.
3.
No authorized organization licensed under the
provisions of this article
shall purchase, lease,
or receive any supplies or
equipment specifically designed or adapted for use in the conduct of bingo
games from other than a supplier
licensed under the bingo control law or from another authorized organization.
4.
The entire net proceeds of any game of
bingo and of any rental shall
be exclusively devoted to the lawful purposes of the organization
permitted to conduct the same.
5.
No prize shall exceed the sum or value of one thousand dollars
in any single game of bingo.
6. No series of prizes on any one
bingo occasion shall aggregate more than three thousand dollars.
7.
No person except a bona fide member of any such organization shall participate in the management or
operation of such game.
8. No person shall receive any remuneration for
participating in the management or operation of any game of bingo.
9.
The unauthorized conduct of a bingo game and any wilful violation of
any provision of any local law or
ordinance shall constitute and be punishable as a misdemeanor.
9-a. No person licensed to sell bingo supplies or equipment, or their agents,
shall conduct, participate
in, or assist in the conduct of bingo. Nothing
herein shall prohibit
a licensed distributor
from selling, offering for
sale, or explaining a product to
an authorized organization, or installing, or
servicing bingo equipment,
upon the premises of a bingo game
licensee.
10. Limited period
bingo shall be conducted in
accordance with the provisions of
this article and
the rules and
regulations of the commission.
(1)
the name and address of the
applicant together with sufficient
facts relating to
its incorporation and
organization to enable the governing body of the municipality to
determine whether or not it is a bona fide authorized organization;
(2) the names
and addresses of its
officers; the place or places where, the date or dates and the
time or times
when the applicant intends to conduct bingo under the
license applied for;
(3) in case the applicant intends to lease premises
for this purpose from other than an authorized organization, the name and
address of the licensed commercial
lessor
of such premises,
and the capacity or potential capacity for public
assembly purposes of space in any premises presently owned or occupied by the
applicant;
(4)
the amount of rent to be paid or other consideration to be
given directly or indirectly
for each occasion for use of the premises of another
authorized organization licensed under this article to
conduct bingo or for use of the premises of a licensed commercial lessor;
(5) all other
items of expense intended to be incurred or paid in connection
with the holding, operating and conducting of such games
of bingo and the
names and addresses
of the persons to whom, and the
purposes for which, they are to be paid;
(6)
the specific purposes to which the entire
net proceeds of
such games are to be devoted and
in what manner; that no commission, salary, compensation, reward or
recompense will be
paid to any
person for conducting such
bingo game or games or for assisting therein except as in this article
otherwise provided; and such other information as shall be prescribed by such rules and
regulations.
(b) In each application there
shall be designated an active member or members of the applicant organization
under whom the game or games
of bingo will be conducted and
to the application shall be
appended a statement executed by the
member or members so designated,
that he or they
will be responsible
for the conduct
of such bingo games in accordance with the terms of
the license, and the rules and
regulations of the commission and of this article.
2. Commercial lessor. (a)
Each applicant for a
license to lease premises to a licensed organization for the purposes of
conducting bingo therein shall file
with the clerk
of the municipality
a written application
therefor
in a form prescribed in the rules and regulations of the control commission duly executed and
verified, which shall
set forth the name and address of
the applicant; designation and address of the premises intended to be
covered by the
license sought; lawfulcapacity for
public assembly purposes; cost of premises and assessed
valuation for real estate tax purposes,
or annual net
lease rent,whichever is
applicable; gross rentals received
and itemized expenses for the immediately preceding calendar or fiscal year,
if any; gross rentals, if
any, derived from bingo during the last preceding calendar or fiscal
year; computation by
which proposed rental
schedule was determined; number
of occasions on which applicant anticipates receiving rent for bingo during the ensuing year or shorter
period if applicable; proposed rent for each such occasion; estimated gross
rental income from all other sources during the ensuing year; estimated expenses
itemized for ensuing year and amount of each item allocated to
bingo rentals; a statement that the
applicant in all
respects conforms with
the
specifications contained in
the definition of
"authorized commercial lessor" set forth in
section four hundred seventy-six of
this article, and such
other information as
shall be prescribed by such rules and regulations.
(b)
At the end of the license period, a recapitulation,
in a manner prescribed in the rules and regulations of the commission, shall be
made as between the licensee and the municipal governing body in respect
of the gross rental actually received during the license period and the
fee paid therefor, and any deficiency of fee thereby shown to be
due shall be paid by the licensee and any excess of fee thereby shown to have
been paid shall be credited
to said licensee,
in such manner
as the commission by rules and
regulations shall prescribe.
(a) Issuance of
licenses to conduct bingo. If the governing body of the municipality
shall determine that the applicant is duly qualified to be licensed to conduct
bingo under this article; that
the member or
members of the applicant designated
in the application to conduct bingo are
bona fide active members of the applicant and are persons
of goodmoral character
and have never
been convicted of
a crime or, if convicted, have
received a pardon or a certificate of good conduct; that such games are to be conducted in accordance
with the provisions of this article and
in accordance with
the rules and
regulations of the commission, and
that the proceeds
thereof are to be disposed of as
provided by this article, and if the governing body is satisfied that no commission, salary, compensation, reward or
recompense whatever will be paid or
given to any
person holding, operating
or conducting or assisting in the
holding, operation and conduct of any such games except as in this article
otherwise provided; and that no prize will be offered and given in excess of
the sum or value of one thousand dollars
in any single game
and that the aggregate of all
prizes offered and given in all of such games conducted on a single occasion,
under said license shall
not exceed the sum or value of three thousand dollars,
it shall issue a license to the applicant for the conduct of bingo upon
payment of a license
fee of eighteen dollars and
seventy-five cents for each bingo occasion; provided, however, that the
governing body shall refuse to
issue a license to an applicant seeking to conduct bingo in
premises of a licensed commercial lessor where it determines
that the premises
presently owned or
occupied by said
applicant are in every respect
adequate and suitable for conducting bingo games.
(b)
Issuance of licenses to commercial lessors. If the
governing body of the municipality shall determine that the
applicant seeking to lease a hall
or premises for
the conduct of
bingo to an
authorized organization is
duly qualified to be licensed under this article; that the applicant satisfies the requirements
for an
authorized commercial lessor as
defined in section four hundred seventy-six that at the time of the issuance of an
initial license, the
governing body of
the municipality shall
find and determine that there is
a public need and that public advantage
will be served by the issuance of such
license; that the applicant has filed its proposed rent for
each bingo occasion; that the commission
has approved as fair and reasonable
a schedule of
maximum rentals for
each such occasion; that there is no diversion of the funds of the proposed lessee from the
lawful purposes as defined in this
article; and that
such leasing of a
hall or premises for the conduct of bingo
is to be in accordance with the
provisions of this
article and in
accordance with the
rules and regulations
of the commission, it shall issue
a license permitting the applicant
to lease said premises for the conduct of bingo to the
authorized organization or
organizations specified in
the application during the period
therein specified or
such shorter period
as the governing
body of the
municipality shall determine, but not to exceed one year, upon
payment of a license fee of ten dollars
plus an amount based upon the
aggregate rent specified
in the license
and determined in accordance with the
following schedule:
aggregate rental of $100 to $499 ....................... $5.00
aggregate rental of $500 to $999 ...................... $25.00
aggregate rental of $1,000 to $2,499
.................. $50.00
aggregate rental of $2,500 to $4,999
................. $125.00
aggregate rental of $5,000 to $9,999
................. $250.00
aggregate rental of $10,000 to $49,999
............... $500.00
aggregate rental of $50,000 to $100,000
............ $2,500.00
aggregate rental in excess of $100,000
............. $5,000.00
2.
On or before the thirtieth day of each month, the treasurer of the municipality shall transmit to the state comptroller
a sum equal
to fifty percent
of all commercial
lessor
license fees and the sum of
eleven dollars and twenty-five cents per occasion of all
license fees for the conduct of bingo collected by such
municipality pursuant to this section
during the preceding calendar month.
3.
No license shall
be issued under
this article which shall be
effective for a period of more than one year. In the
case of limited
period bingo, no license shall be issued authorizing the conduct of such games on more than two occasions in any one
day nor shall any license be issued under this article which shall be effective
for a period of more than seven of
twelve consecutive days in any one year.
No license for
the conduct of limited period bingo shall be issued in
cities having a population of one
million or more.
§ 482. Hearing;
amendment of license.
1. No application for the issuance of a license shall be denied by the
governing body until after a
hearing, held on due notice to
the applicant, at which the applicant
shall be entitled to be heard upon the qualifications of the
applicant and the merits of the
application.
2. Any license
issued under this
article may be
amended, upon application made to
the governing body of the municipality which
issued it, if the
subject matter of the proposed amendment could lawfully and properly have been included in the original
license and upon payment of such additional license fee if any, as would
have been payable if it had been so
included.
§ 483.
Form and contents
of license; display of license. 1. Eeach
license to conduct bingo shall be in such form as shall be prescribed in the rules and regulations promulgated by the
control commission, and
shall contain a
statement of the name and address of the licensee, of the names and addresses of the member or
members of the licensee under
whom the games will be conducted, of the place or
places where and the date or dates and
time or times when such games are to be conducted and of the specific purposes to which the entire net
proceeds of such games are to be
devoted; if any prize or prizes are to be offered and given in cash, a statement of the amounts of the
prizes authorized so
to be offered
and given; and any other information which may be
required by said rules and regulations
to be contained therein, and
each license issued
for the conduct of any game shall
be conspicuously displayed at the place
where same is to be conducted at all times during the conduct
thereof.
2. Each license
to lease premises for conducting
bingo shall be in such form as shall be
prescribed in the rules and regulations
of the
control commission and shall contain a
statement of the name and address
of the licensee and the address of the leased premises, the
amount of permissible rent and any other
information which may be required by said
rules and regulations to be contained therein, and
each such license
shall be conspicuously displayed
upon such premises at all times during
the conduct of bingo.
§ 484. Control
and supervision; suspension of licenses; inspection of premises. 1. The governing body of any
municipality issuing any license under
this article shall
have and exercise rigid control and close supervision over all games of bingo conducted
under such license, to the end that the
same are fairly conducted in accordance with the provisions of such license, the provisions of the rules
and regulations promulgated by the
control commission and the provisions of this
article and such
governing body and the control commission shall have the
power and the authority to suspend any
license issued by such governing
body and to
revoke the same,
and, additionally, in
the case of an authorized commercial lessor,
to impose a fine in an
amount not exceeding
one thousand dollars,
after notice and hearing, for
violation of any such provisions, and
shall have the right of
entry, by their
respective officers and
agents, at all times into any
premises where any game of bingo is
being conducted or where it is
intended that any such game
shall be conducted, or where any
equipment being used or intended to be
used in the conduct thereof is found, for the purpose of inspecting the
same.
2.
In addition to the authority granted pursuant to subdivision one of this
section, the governing body and
the control commission, in a city having
a population of one million or more, may
impose a fine
in an amount
not exceeding one thousand dollars, after notice and hearing, on any licensee under this article for violation
of any provision of such
license, this article
or rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.
§ 485.
Sunday; conduct of
games on. No
games of bingo shall be conducted
under any license issued under this article on the first
day of the week, commonly known as designated as
Sunday, unless it shall be otherwise
provided in the license issued for the holding, operating and
conducting thereof, pursuant
to the provisions of a local law or an ordinance duly adopted by the governing body
of the municipality issuing the license,
authorizing the conduct of bingo under this article on that day.
§ 486. Participation
by persons under eighteen. No person under the age of eighteen years shall be permitted to
play any game or games
of bingo conducted pursuant to
any license issued under this article unless
accompanied by an adult. No person under the age of eighteen years
shall be
permitted to conduct or assist in the conduct of any game
of bingo conducted pursuant to any
license issued under this article.
§ 487. Frequency
of game; sale of alcoholic beverages. No game or games of bingo, except limited period bingo,
shall be
conducted under any
license issued under this article
more often than on eighteen days in any
three successive calendar months. No
game or games of
limited period bingo
shall be conducted between the hours of twelve
midnight postmeridian and noon, and no
more than sixty games may be conducted
on any single
occasion of limited period bingo. No game or games of bingo shall be conducted in any room or outdoor
area where alcoholic beverages are sold,
served or consumed during the progress of the game or games.
§ 488. Persons
operating and conducting games; equipment; expenses; compensation.
1. No person shall hold, operate or conduct any game
of bingo under
any license issued under this article except a bona
fide member of the authorized
organization to which the license is
issued, and no
person shall assist in the
holding, operating or conducting of any
game of bingo under such license except such a bona fide member or a bona fide member of an organization or
association which is an auxiliary to the
licensee or a bona fide member of an organization or association
of which such
licensee is an
auxiliary or a bona fide member of an
organization or association which is affiliated with
the licensee by
being, with it,
auxiliary to another organization
or association and except bookkeepers or
accountants as hereinafter
provided. Provided, however, any person may assist the licensed
organization in any activity
related to the
game of bingo
which does not actually involve the holding, conducting, managing or operating of
such game of
bingo. No game of bingo shall be conducted with any
equipment except such as shall be owned
absolutely or leased by the authorized organization so licensed or
used without payment of any compensation therefor by the licensee.
Lease terms and conditions shall be subject to
rules and regulations
promulgated by the
board. This article
shall not be construed to authorize or permit an authorized
organization to engage in the business
of leasing bingo supplies or equipment. No items of
expense shall be
incurred or paid in connection
with the conducting of any game of bingo
pursuant to any license issued under this article, except those that
are reasonable and
are necessarily expended
for bingo supplies
and equipment, prizes,
stated rental if
any, bookkeeping or
accounting services according to a schedule
of compensation prescribed
by the commission, janitorial services and utility
supplies if any, and license fees, and
the cost of bus transportation, if authorized by the control commission.
2.
Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, a person
who is a bona fide member of an organization licensed to conduct the game of bingo and is also a bona fide
member of one or more
other organizations which are also licensed to conduct the game
of bingo, and such organizations are not
affiliates or auxiliaries
of the others,
shall be authorized
to operate, conduct or assist in the operation or conduct of games of bingo held by any of such
organizations licensed to conduct bingo.
§ 489.
Charge for admission and participation; amount of prizes; award of
prizes. Except in the conduct of limited period bingo, not more
than five dollars shall be charged by
any licensee for admission to any
room or place
in which any game or games of bingo are to be conducted under any license issued under this article, which
admission fee, upon payment thereof,
shall entitle the person paying the same to participate without additional charge in all regular games of
bingo to be played under such license on such occasion. In the conduct of
limited period bingo: (a) no
admission fee shall
be charged, (b) not more than twenty-five cents shall be charged for a single
opportunity to participate
in any one
game, which charge,
upon payment thereof,
shall entitle the person paying
the same to one card for participation in one such game, and (c)
no licensee shall
sell more than
five opportunities to each player
participating in any one game. Every
winner shall be
determined and every
prize shall be awarded and delivered within the same calendar day as that upon which the game was played. No
alcoholic beverage shall be
offered or given as a prize in any game of bingo.
§ 490.
Advertising of bingo
games. A licensee may advertise the conduct of an occasion of bingo to
the general public
by means of
newspaper, radio, circular,
handbill and poster, and by one
sign not exceeding sixty square feet
in area,
which may be
displayed on or
adjacent to the
premises owned or occupied by a licensed authorized organization, and when an organization is
licensed to conduct
bingo occasions on the premises
of another licensed authorized organization or
of a licensed
commercial lessor, one
additional such sign may be
displayed on or adjacent to the premises in which the occasions are
to be conducted.
Additional signs may be displayed
upon any firefighting equipment
belonging to any licensed authorized organization which is
a volunteer fire
company, or upon any equipment of a first aid or rescue squad in and throughout the community served
by such volunteer
fire company or
such first aid
or rescue squad, as the case may
be. All advertisements shall be limited
to the description of
such event as
"bingo", the name
of the licensed authorized
organization conducting such occasions,
the license number of the authorized
organization as assigned
by the clerk
and the date, location and time of the bingo occasion.
§ 491. Statement of receipts, expenses; additional
license fees. 1. Within seven days after the conclusion of any occasion
of bingo, the
authorized organization which
conducted the same, and its members who
were in charge thereof, and when applicable the authorized organization
which rented its premises therefor,
shall each furnish to the clerk of the
municipality a statement subscribed by
the member in
charge and affirmed
by him as
true, under the penalties of perjury, showing the amount of the gross receipts derived therefrom and each item of
expense incurred, or paid, and each item of expenditure made or
to be made, the name and address of each
person to whom each such item has been paid, or
is to be paid, with a detailed description of the merchandise purchased
or the services
rendered therefor, the net proceeds derived
from such game or rental, as the case
may be, and the use to which such proceeds
have been or are to be applied and a list of prizes
offered and given, with the respective
values thereof, and it shall be the duty
of each licensee to maintain and keep such books and
records as may be necessary to substantiate
the particulars of
each such statement and within fifteen days after the end of each calendar
quarter during which there
has been any occasion of bingo, a summary statement of such information, in
form prescribed by the state,
shall be furnished in the same manner to
the state racing and wagering board.
2.
Upon the filing of such statement
of receipts, the
authorized organization furnishing
the same shall
pay to the
clerk of the
municipality as and for an additional license fee a sum based upon
the reported net
proceeds, if any,
for the occasion
covered by such statement and determined in accordance with
such schedule as shall
be established from
time to time by the commission to
defray the cost to municipalities of
administering the provisions of this
article and of
article nineteen-B of the executive law.
§ 492.
Examination of books
and records; examination of managers, etc.; disclosure of information. The governing body of the municipality and the control commission shall have power
to examine or cause to
be examined the books and records
of
1. Any authorized
organization which is
or has been licensed to conduct bingo, so far
as they may
relate to bingo
including the maintenance,
control and disposition of net proceeds derived from bingo or from the use of its premises for bingo,
and to examine any manager,
officer, director, agent,
member or employee
thereof under oath in relation to
the conduct of any such game under any such license, the use of its premises for bingo, or the disposition
of net
proceeds derived from bingo, as the case may be.
2.
Any licensed authorized commercial lessor so far as
they may relate to leasing premises for
bingo and to examine said lessor or any manager, officer,
director, agent or employee thereof
under oath in relation to such leasing.
Any
information so received shall not be disclosed except so
far as may be
necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article, and article nineteen-B of the
executive law.
§ 493. Appeals
from municipal governing body to control commission. Any applicant for, or holder of, any
license issued or
to be issued
under this article aggrieved by
any action of the governing body of the
municipality to which such application has been made or by
which such license
has been issued, may appeal to
the control commission from the
determination of said governing body by filing with the governing body
a written notice of appeal within thirty
days after the determination or
action appealed from, and upon the hearing of such appeal, the
evidence, if any, taken before the governing body and any
additional evidence may be produced and
shall be considered in arriving at
a determination of the
matters in issue, and the action of the control commission upon said appeal shall be binding upon said governing
body and all parties to said appeal.
§ 494. Exemption
from prosecution. No person or
corporation lawfully conducting, or
participating in the conduct of bingo or
permitting the conduct upon any premises owned or leased by
him or it under any license lawfully
issued pursuant to this article, shall be liable to prosecution or
conviction for violation
of any provision of article two
hundred twenty-five of the penal law or
any other law or ordinance to the extent
that such conduct is specifically authorized by this article, but
this immunity shall
not extend to
any person or
corporation knowingly conducting
or participating in the conduct of bingo
under any license
obtained by any
false pretense or by any false
statement made in any application for
license or otherwise, or permitting the conduct upon any premises owned or leased by him or it of
any game
of bingo conducted
under any license known to him or it to have been
obtained by any such false pretense or
statement.
§ 495. Offenses;
forfeiture of license;
ineligibility to apply for license. Any person, association or corporation who or
which shall:
(1)
make any false statement in
any application for
any license authorized to be issued under this article;
(2) pay or receive, for the use
of any premises for conducting bingo, a
rental in excess of the amount specified as the
permissible rent in
the license provided
for in subdivision two of section four hundred eighty of this article;
(3)
fail to keep such books and records as
shall fully and
truly record all
transactions connected with the
conducting of bingo or the leasing of
premises to be used for the conduct of bingo;
(4)
falsify or make any false entry in any books or records so far as
they relate in any manner to the conduct of bingo, to the disposition
of the proceeds thereof and to the
application of the rents received by any
authorized organization;
(5)
divert or pay any portion of the net proceeds of any game of bingo to any
person, association or corporation, except in furtherance of one or more of the lawful purposes defined in
this article; or
(6) violate any of
the provisions of this article or of
any term of any
license issued under this article;
shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and shall forfeit any license issued under this article and be ineligible to apply
for a license under this
article for one year thereafter.
§
495-a. Unlawful bingo or
game. 1. For the purposes of this section, "bingo" or
"game" shall mean and include
a specific game
or chance, commonly known
as bingo or lotto, in which prizes are awarded on the
basis of designated numbers or symbols on a card conforming to
number or symbols selected at random, whether or not a person who
participates as a player furnishes
something of value
for the opportunity
to participate.
2. Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation or organization holding, operating, or conducting bingo or a game is guilty of a misdemeanor, except when operating, holding or conducting: (a) In accordance with a valid license issued pursuant to this article; or (b) (i) Within a municipality that has authorized the conduct of bingo games (A) within the confines of a home for purposes of amusement or recreation where (I) no player or other person furnishes anything of value for the opportunity to participate, and (II) the prizes awarded or to be awarded are nominal.
(B) within any apartment, condominium or cooperative complex, retirement community, or other group residential complex or facility where
(I) sponsored by the operator of or an association related to such complex, community or facility,
(II) such games are conducted solely for the purpose of amusement and recreation of its residents,
(III) no player or other person furnishes anything of value for the opportunity to participate,
(IV) the value of the prizes shall not exceed ten dollars for any one game or a total of one hundred fifty dollars in any calendar day,
(V) such games are not conducted on more than fifteen days during any calendar year, and
(VI) no person other than an employee or volunteer of such complex, community or facility conducts or assists in conducting the game or games.
(C) on behalf of any bona fide social, charitable, educational, recreational, fraternal or age group organization, club or association solely for the purpose of amusement and recreation of its members or beneficiaries where