City changes gambling enforcement

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake City Council amended an ordinance Tuesday requiring administrative action for gambling establishments which fail to pay their taxes.

At a previous council meeting Mayor Ron Covey asked city staff if the newly amended ordinance would have prevented a specific casino in the city from failing to pay its taxes for an extended period of time.

City staff advised the situation would have been prevented.

The Porterhouse Restaurant was reported to have failed in paying approximately $100,000 in taxes to the city, as reported in the Jan. 31 edition of the Columbia Basin Herald. The casino is reportedly paying the overdue taxes.

According to the new ordinance the city finance department will issue notices to gambling establishment owners who fail to pay their taxes to the city.

The ordinance allows the finance department director to issue a notice of violation and an order to pay the taxes to the business owner. If the business owner disputes the notifications, they have 10 days to appeal the action, City Manager Joe Gavinski said. If compliance is not met in the time determined by the finance department, the business owner is fined up to $250 per day up to a sum of $5,000, according to the ordinance.

The city can offer time extensions in certain situations to help the establishment begin payment, he said.

The ordinance was made official on the second reading Tuesday night.

Previously the establishments in violation were issued a civil infraction of $1,000, Gavinski said. Once the civil infraction was issued, there was the option to go to court. The court proceeding made the process longer.

The administrative enforcement action shortens the process, he said. If the administrative notice is refuted, the involved parties are heard before the hearing examiner who determines if the establishment violated the ordinance.

Councilmember Jim Liebrecht was absent from the council meeting.