By Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 17, 2008

Calvert commissioners are moving ahead with plans to impose stiffer fees on electronic bingo machines, despite the General Assembly's decision to ban the county's machines next June.

The proposed changes include higher licensing fees, from $5,000 up to $10,000, and a new flat fee per machine of $200 to $10,000. The Board of County Commissioners is also considering limiting the number of machines in an establishment and whether a public hearing would be necessary before a license is revoked.

The board voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to hold a public hearing on the new fees in coming months, with Commissioner Barbara A. Stinnett (D-At Large) opposing the measure.

"Who knows what is going to happen in the General Assembly next year," board President Wilson H. Parran (D-Huntingtown) said. "If they should remain, we want to make sure we have regulations in place."

The changes, first discussed in February, were put on hold pending the state legislators' action. Rod n' Reel Restaurant and Traders Steak, Seafood and Ale, both in Chesapeake Beach, are the only businesses that can legally operate the pseudo-slot machines in the county under the new state law. The county has issued six licenses, three of which were approved in June.

"I don't see the county's point," said Gary Luckett, owner of Traders Steak, Seafood and Ale, which is undergoing a major renovation because of a June tornado. "Eleven months from now we are to be terminated, and I'm not currently in business because of the storm."

Gerald W. Donovan, owner of Rod n' Reel and mayor of Chesapeake Beach, declined to comment.

Fewer than 50 electronic bingo machines are sitting unplugged in Abner's Crab House. They had not been in the establishment long enough to qualify for the extra year of operation allowed by the state legislation.

Bobby Abner said that he hopes he can turn his machines back on but that if commissioners adopt the new fees, it would be "almost futile" to keep them. He called the proposed per machine rate of $10,000 ludicrous and said the county would be making more money than the business owners.

Commissioner Susan Shaw (R-Huntingtown) said the hearing will give the public a say in the matter and help people understand the process.

Stinnett said she voted against the proposed regulations because the wording was loose and commissioners are "overstepping our authority."

"I'm not going to vote for something that will wind up in court," she said.

Commissioners also voted to schedule public hearings for changes to charitable bingo and gambling regulations. Among the changes would be requiring financial accounting for bingo events, increasing the number of permissible charitable gaming events from three to six per quarter and allowing members of an organization's auxiliary to operate the games.