Group's Bid For Bingo Machines Is Rejected

Legion Lacked Proper Permit

A veterans organization in Chesapeake Beach lost its bid last week to resume using the 10 instant-bingo machines it was forced to turn off last year.

The American Legion Stallings-Williams Post 206 had sued Calvert County to be able to use the machines until July 2012. Under current Maryland legislation, three commercial establishments can operate the machines in Chesapeake Beach.

County commissioners had adopted a regulation in 2007 requiring operators of instant-bingo machines to have a permit. Until then, the post didn't have a permit. It got a $5,000 license and a permit in late 2007, but the General Assembly outlawed the machines in 2008.

A clause in the 2008 legislation allowed the machines to be operated in some parts of the state until July; that exception was extended until July 2012.

Visiting Circuit Court Judge James J. Lombardi ruled Thursday that the post needed a permit to operate the machines in 2007. Since it didn't have one for much of that year, it does not qualify for the grandfather clause, he said.

County Attorney Emanuel Demedis said in court that although the post is not required to have a bingo license since it is a qualified nonprofit organization, the county has required a permit since 2007.

"Any activity they conducted, because they didn't have a permit, was illegal," Demedis told the judge.

"The American Legion was very surprised and very disappointed by the outcome, as they were using these machines in 2006 and 2007," said James A. Johnson, who represented the post in court.

"They repeatedly checked with county authorities and did everything they thought they needed to do to comply with the law and operate these machines so they could support the charities they support."

The legion provides college scholarships and aids community organizations, partly through revenue from the bingo machines.

Johnson said that legion officials can appeal the ruling but that they had not made a decision. But, he said, by the time an appeal might be resolved, "another year of the grandfather period will have been lost."

William Rustmann, commander of the post, agreed and said he felt wronged by the system.

"It is something to keep us alive," Rustmann said. "We're not trying to make a million dollars. We are trying to survive and provide for the community like we always have, and now we can't."

Rustmann said that in addition to losing revenue, the American Legion has experienced a decline in hall rentals and volunteer support, making it difficult for the post to operate.

Chesapeake Beach was also notified last week by the state comptroller that its admissions and amusements tax would remain at 0.50 percent.

A majority of Town Council members voted in June to raise the tax on the gross receipts of electronic bingo machines at three commercial establishments in town from 0.50 to 0.75 percent.

The town's ordinance "is incompatible with state law," said Caron Brace, a spokeswoman for the comptroller. "Our agency will continue to assess and collect the admissions and amusements tax at the current rate."