Statesville city leaders may be looking into ways to bring in needed revenue from a business that is supposed to be illegal.
At Thursday’s city council pre-agenda meeting, Councilman Michael Johnson discussed a conversation he had with an official from Lenoir regarding income being generated in that town through fees and taxes being applied to so-called Internet cafes and the sweepstakes-type games being played there.
State law passed last year called for the closing down of the games on the grounds that they were skirting anti-gambling laws. But subsequent court rulings have made the matter less clear.
A Greensboro court ruled last November that aspects of the ban ran awry of the café owners’ First Amendment rights.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper appealed the ruling and allowed the Dec. 1, 2010, ban to take effect.
Cooper later sent letters to law enforcement agencies informing them that the matter requires more clarity.
Statesville Police Chief Tom Anderson said he has not instructed his officers to enforce the law pending further notification from Cooper’s office.
In the meantime, Internet cafes with sweepstakes-type games continue to operate throughout the state, including several in Statesville. And city leaders think it may be wise to get a piece of the cash pie.
Johnson said the Lenoir official told him that town charges the café owners a licensing fee plus $500 per game unit.
“And they took in over $60,000 in that little town,” Johnson said.
City Manager Rob Hites and Finance Director Lisa Salmon told the council Thursday they would investigate the institution of such a plan in Statesville.
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