[Adopted 8-12-1958, approved by referendum 11-4-1958]
The purpose of this ordinance is to amend the Bingo Ordinance
of the Town of Orangetown adopted August 12, 1958, authorizing the
conduct of bingo in the Town of Orangetown, to change the reference
in such ordinance from Article 14-G of the General Municipal Law to
Article 14-H of the General Municipal Law, as so renumbered by Chapter
438 of the Laws of 1962, and to set forth therein the following additional
amended and renumbered restrictions concerning the conduct of the
game of bingo by an authorized organization in the Town of Orangetown
as required by § 479 of the General Municipal Law of the
State of New York as amended by Chapter 438 of the Laws of 1962:
A. No
person, firm, association, corporation or organization, other than
a licensee under the provisions of Article 14-H of the General Municipal
Law, shall conduct such game or shall lease or otherwise make available
for conducting bingo in a hall or other premises for any consideration
whatsoever, direct or indirect.
B. 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.
C. No
authorized organization licensed under the provisions of Article 14-H
of the General Municipal Law shall purchase 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.
D. The
entire net proceeds of any game of bingo and of any rents shall be
exclusively devoted to the lawful purposes of the organization permitted
to conduct the same.
E. No
prize shall exceed the sum or value of $250 in any single game of
bingo.
F. No
series of prizes on any one bingo occasion shall aggregate more than
$1,000.
G. No
person except a bona fide member of any such organization shall participate
in the management or operation of such game.
H. No
person shall receive any remuneration for participating in the management
or operation of any game of bingo.
I. The
unauthorized conduct of a bingo game and any willful violation of
any provision of this ordinance shall constitute and be punishable
as a misdemeanor.
J. Games
of bingo may be conducted under any license issued under this ordinance
on the first day of the week commonly known and designated as Sunday.
[Amended 3-8-1976 by L.L. No. 3, 1976]
If any part or provision of this ordinance or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance is adjudged invalid by any court
of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its
operation to the part, provision or application directly involved
in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered,
and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this
ordinance or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances.
The Town Board hereby declares that it would have enacted the remainder
of this ordinance even without any such part, provision or application.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon publication
and posting, as provided by law.
[Adopted 10-12-1976, approved by referendum 11-2-1976]
This ordinance shall be known as the "Town of Orangetown Games
of Chance Licensing Law."
This ordinance is subject and subordinate to all the conditions
and provisions contained in Article 9-A of the General Municipal Law
and amendments thereto, and any and all rules and regulations and
opinions adopted or to be adopted by the New York State Racing and
Wagering Board.
The Town Board finds the raising of funds for the promotion
of bona fide charitable, educational, scientific, health, religious,
patriotic and other worthy causes, and where the beneficiaries are
undetermined, to be in the public interest, and that the mandate of
Section Nine of Article One of the State Constitution, as amended,
should be carried out by rigid regulations to prevent commercialized
gambling, prevent participation by criminal and other undesirable
elements and prevent the diversion of funds from the purposes herein
authorized.
As used in this ordinance; the following terms shall have the
meanings, indicated:
AUTHORIZED GAMES OF CHANCE LESSOR
An authorized organization which has been granted a lessor's
license pursuant to the provisions of Article 9-A of the General Municipal
Law or pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance.
AUTHORIZED ORGANIZATION
Any bona fide religious or charitable organization or bona
fide educational or service organization or bona fide organization
of veterans or volunteer firemen which, by its charter, certificate
of incorporation, constitution or act of the Legislature, shall have
among its dominant purposes those as defined in this ordinance, and
provided that each such organization shall operate without profit
to its individual members, and provided that each such organization
has engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes as defined
in this ordinance for a period of three years immediately preceding
the filing of an application for a license under this ordinance. No
organization shall be deemed an authorized organization which is or
has been formed primarily for the purpose of conducting games of chance
and the distribution of the proceeds thereof to itself or any other
organization, or which does not devote at least 75% of its activities
and funds to other lawful purposes set forth in this ordinance. No
political party, club or committee shall be deemed an "authorized
organization."
AUTHORIZED SUPPLIER OF GAMES OR CHANCE EQUIPMENT
Any person, firm, corporation, partnership or organization
licensed by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board to sell or
lease games of chance equipment or paraphernalia which meets the specifications
and regulations established by the New York State Racing and Wagering
Board. Nothing herein shall prevent an authorized organization from
purchasing common articles, such as cards and dice, from normal sources
of supply of such articles or from constructing equipment and paraphernalia
for games of chance for its own use. However, no such equipment or
paraphernalia, constructed by an authorized organization, shall be
sold or leased to any other authorized organization without written
permission from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.
GAMES OF CHANCE
Specific games of chance in which prizes are awarded on the basis of a designated winning number or numbers, color or colors, symbol or symbols determined by chance, but not including games commonly known as "bingo" or "lotto," which are controlled by Article 14-H of the General Municipal Law and Article
I of Chapter
4 of the Code of the Town of Orangetown, and also not including "slot machines," "bookmaking" and "policy or number games" as defined in § 225.00 of the Penal Law. No game of chance shall involve wagering of money by one player against another player.
LAWFUL PURPOSES
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 by 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 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.
NET PROCEEDS
A.
In relation to the gross receipts from one or more
occasions of games of chance, the amount that shall remain after deducting
the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for supplies
and equipment; prizes; stated rental, if any; bookkeeping or accounting
services, according to a schedule of compensation prescribed by the
New York State Racing and Wagering Board; janitorial services and
utility supplies, if any; license fees; and the cost of bus transportation,
if authorized by the division.
B.
In relation to the gross rent received by an organization
licensed to conduct such games 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.
ONE OCCASION
The conducting of any type of game of chance during any one
license period. No series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate
more than $1,000.
PRIZE
A sum of money or item of merchandise awarded by the authorized
organization to a participant in any one operation or conducting of
a game of chance in which participants utilize currency for participation
and in which those who are not winners surrender their participating
currency at the conclusion of the single operation of such game of
chance. No prize for any one participant in any one operation or conducting
of such single game of chance shall exceed the sum of $100. If a prize
is awarded based on odds, only that portion in excess of the winning
participant's bet shall be considered as a prize. For the purposes
of this ordinance, the value of a prize which consists of merchandise
shall be the actual cost of the item of such merchandise.
TOWN BOARD
The Town Board of the Town of Orangetown.
TOWN CLERK
The Town Clerk of the Town of Orangetown.
The Town Clerk is hereby delegated the authority granted to
the Town Board by the New York State Games of Chance Licensing Law,
Article 9-A of the General Municipal Law, in relation to the issuance,
amendment and cancellation of licenses, the conduct of investigations
and hearings and the collection and transmission of fees.
In the application for license or conduct of games, any person,
association, corporation or organization who or which shall:
A. Make any material false statement in any application for
any license authorized to be issued under this ordinance;
B. Pay or receive for the use of any premises for conducting games of chance, a rental in excess of the amount specified as the permissible rent in the license provided for in §
4-10A(1)(c) of this ordinance;
C. Fail to keep such books and records as shall fully and
truly record all transactions connected with the conducting of games
of chance or the leasing of premises to be used for the conduct of
games of chance;
D. Falsify or make any false entry in any books or records
so far as they relate in any manner to the conduct of games of chance,
to the disposition of the proceeds thereof and to the application
of the rents received by any authorized organization; or
E. Divert or pay any portion of the net proceeds of any game
of chance to any person, association or corporation, except in furtherance
of one or more of the lawful purposes defined in this ordinance shall
forfeit any license heretofore issued under this ordinance, where
applicable, and shall be ineligible to apply for a license under this
ordinance for at least one year thereafter, and, in addition, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or
imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
Any person, association or corporation holding, operating or
conducting a game or games of chance is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor,
except when operating, holding or conducting:
A. In accordance with a valid license issued pursuant to this
ordinance; or
B. On behalf of a bona fide organization of persons 60 years
of age or over, commonly referred to as "senior citizens," solely
for the purpose of amusement and recreation of its members where:
(1) The organization has applied for and received an identification
number from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.
(2) No player or person furnishes anything of value for the
opportunity to participate.
(3) The prizes awarded or to be awarded are nominal.
(4) No person other than a bona fide active member of the
organization participates in the conduct of the games.
(5) No person is paid for conducting or assisting in the conduct
of the game or games.
The provisions of this ordinance shall remain inoperative in
the Town of Orangetown unless and until a proposition therefor submitted
at a general election in the Town of Orangetown shall be approved
by a vote of the majority of the qualified electors in such municipality
voting thereon. Upon approval by said electors, this ordinance shall
be effective on the first day of January next succeeding said election.
This ordinance may be amended from time to time or repealed
by the Town Board of the Town of Orangetown by a two-thirds vote of
such Town Board, and such amendment or repeal, as the case may be,
may be made effective and operative not earlier than 30 days following
the date of enactment of the ordinance effecting such amendment or
repeal, as the case may be; and the approval of a majority of the
electors of the Town of Orangetown shall not be a condition prerequisite
to the taking effect of such ordinance.
If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof
to the Town of Orangetown to any person or any such particular circumstances
shall be adjudged unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction,
the remainder of this ordinance or the application thereof to the
Town of Orangetown or such other persons and circumstances shall not
be affected thereby.