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Gossip Guide

A judge's decision to strike down a new state regulation that would have required Indiana bingo halls to give a percentage of gross revenues to charity has spared the balance sheet of some local bingo officials.

"I think it's great," said Albert Beeks, secretary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles 227. "The way I understood it, if you made so much you had to give 10 percent of your gross and that's before payouts and everything else."

Tuesday, Marion County Superior Court Judge David J. Dreyer ruled that officials from the state Department of Revenue did not follow the correct procedures in adopting the new regulations. The rule would have required operations that take in more than $500,000 a year to give at least 10 percent of that to charity.

The judge said the state agency should have submitted the new rules to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, which would have determined the financial effect on bingo halls. State law requires this for new rules with an estimated economic impact greater than $500,000.

Officials from several area bingo clubs said they bring in 100 to 200 people on bingo nights, with annual gross revenues in the millions. All donate a portion of that money to state and local charities, but they also must pay game winners, purchase supplies and pay utility and upkeep bills.