Thornton Township Violating BINGO License And Tax Act –

South Holland, Ill. (ECWd) –

Facebook user Joy Schreiber noticed that the Illinois Bingo License and Tax Act permits local governments to conduct BINGO games “subject to” the restriction of a $10 maximum prize value for each game, without the need to obtain a license. Local governments are not eligible for a bingo license but can conduct games subject to this restriction in the Act.

Section  1.3(9) of the Bingo License and Tax Act, states the following:

• <span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">Sec. 1.3. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">Restrictions on licensure. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;">Licensing for the conducting of bingo is <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>subject to the following restrictions</strong></span>:</span>
  • (9) Senior citizens organizations and units of local government may conduct bingo without a license or fee, subject to the following conditions:
    • (C) the aggregate retail value of all prizes or merchandise awarded in any one game of bingo shall not exceed $10;

Section 5 of the Act prescribes penalties for violations as a Class A Misdemeanor under the Illinois Criminal Code and could subject violators to fines of up to $5,000.

In an earlier article, we published what Thornton Township, under the guidance of Tiffany Henyard, was spending on its monthly Bingo games, which included

• More than $40,000.00 given away at BINGO events
• Around 50 ROKU and Vizio TVs, ranging between 50-, 55-, and 65-inch versions (clearly worth more than $10 each)
• Gift cards

This appears to clearly violate the Act’s $10 aggregate per game restriction and interested persons should file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Revenue alleging violations of the Bingo License and Tax Act, Section 1.3.

South Holland Police should do their jobs and also act on this violation of law during the next Bingo event at Thornton Township.