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Deadwood Allows Slots

The South Dakota state Senate has passed a bill to increase the gambling tax in the city of Deadwood and to authorize penny slot machine terminals there. This past Tuesday, the Senate voted thirty-three to one to authorize the plan that is expected to bring about a million dollars annually into the state after upping the taxation on gross revenue from the city’s gambling devices. A second bill passed thirty-two to two in favor of Deadwood converting its municipally-owned slot machines from nickel to penny slots. The exponentially more popular penny slots are expected to funnel another five hundred thousand dollars annually into state coffers.

The pair of bills was deemed a compromise between Governor Mike Rounds, who wanted much higher licensing fees on poker, blackjack, and slot games. Per game, the license fees would have moved from two thousand to three thousand dollars annually – a plan that would have been “crippling to some in the industry and fatal to others,” according to Senator Tom Nelson. The gaming industry countered with the plan to increase adjusted gross revenues on slot machines from eight to nine percent to bolster the state’s general fund, as well as agreement that penny slots would be beneficial to everyone involved.

The sole holdout to the first slot machine bill was Senator Jim Bradford of Pine Ridge, who expressed disappointment that the Indian tribal casinos of South Dakota had not been given the opportunity to weigh in on the matter, and that their lack of a voice in the negotiation process was not fair.
 

Back to March 2009 Archive.