Bell : New Tax Break for Casino

The City Council Monday unanimously approved another tax break for the California Bell Club after the ailing casino requested assistance in March to help it bounce back and pay old debts.

The council lowered the city tax to a flat 8% of gross revenues for a six-month period, retroactive to April 1. The previous rate was based on a sliding schedule that ranged from 8% to 13% of gross revenues. The tax break is similar to one granted last year that expired at the end of February.

Despite a slight increase in gross revenues in the last three months, the council felt the tax break was necessary to insure the long-term success of the club, Mayor George Cole said.

“The place made money in the last couple of months, but not . . . very much before that,” Cole said. “We thought it was better to insure the long-term liability of the club than to take as much as we can now without regard to how it affects” the club later, he said.

After hovering at the $750,000 mark for the last six months of 1985, the club’s revenues jumped to $989,528 in January and exceeded $1 million in February and March. The city collected its full share of the license fees in March.

Club representatives told the city that “even though gross revenues were going up, it was not enough to get out of debt,” said Byron Woosley, city administrator.

The club still owes the city $289,000 in back taxes and a lawsuit to collect outstanding payments is still pending, although not actively being pursued, Woosley said.