Marion doubles license fees for video gambling terminals

MARION - Running a gaming parlor in Marion now will cost significantly more, after action on Monday night by the Marion City Council, which unanimously voted to double the license fees for local businesses hosting the games and impose a $1,000 license, per machine, for the operators of the video-gaming terminals.

The new ordinance, which comes ahead of statewide expansion of gaming, also puts a cap of 200 on the number of video-gaming machines. The city has an estimated 30 establishments with about 150 machines total, at a maximum of five machines per business. Businesses that were limited to five can add one more. Payouts are going up. Licenses will be "first come, first served," Absher said, noting that Marion had about reached its limit. "We're on the cusp," he said. "That just barely accommodates the number of establishments we already have."

"It's a much more explicit gaming code than before, which was just two pages," said Mayor Mike Absher, who by his position is the city's liquor commissioner and "de facto gaming commissioner."

Businesses hosting the video-gaming machines must purchase stamps from the city, which will now cost $200, up from $100. The companies that actually own the games must pay $1,000, which is a fee that hadn't been charged before, Absher said.

The council, with commissioners Doug Patton, John M. Barwick Jr., John Stoecklin and Jim Webb, backed the measure.

The mayor came up with the revamp of the gaming code during his presentation of the council's "20/20 Vision" plan on Sept. 3.

He's looking to use the revenue for "additional policing" of the gaming, and "hopefully we will use this money to improve three facilities," namely the Marion Training Complex, the Senior Citizens Center and Boyton Street Community Center.