Legislation
Chile – Government to extend casino licences
By Lewis - 17 September 2013
The Chilean government will extend the casino licences of the seven cities which operate and benefit from local casinos. The announcement comes after a number of events and public awareness campaigns initiated by the city mayors. Led by the mayor of Viña del Mar, Virginia Reginato local officials urged the government to reconsider and launched a petition for President Sebastián Piñera to act on the issue. The campaign has continued apace and in July major of Coquimbo Cristian Galleguillos Vega along with other local officials paraded through the streets to the funeral march before hoisting a black flag in front of the mayor’s office in an attempt to highlight the impact the new measures will have on the local economy.
It would seem that the campaign has paid off as government officials have confirmed that the casinos licences will be extended for a further fifteen years. The issue has become increasingly urgent for the seven cities which operate casinos. In 2005 the government green lit the construction of eighteen additional casinos to the seven municipal casinos already in operation. The casinos which were already licensed before the new act come under the supervision of the local municipalities where they are located and are a vital source of funding locally. Combined they generate around US$90m a year in tax revenue for local governments and in some cases account for half of the annual budget.
The licence for the seven municipal casinos in Chile was due to end on 31 December 2015. From that point on the casinos were to come under the control of the Chilean Gaming Control Board. However according to local press reports the Secretary for Regional Development has confirmed that he is preparing a bill in conjunction with city mayors which would extend their licenses for fifteen years.
The Secretary for Regional Development Miguel Flores commented: “The idea is to extend the concession one last time and for a further period of 15 years,” and that the executive branch was preparing a new law which will allow the seven municipalities to continue to operate casinos for that period. It is believed that the government is looking at a new law which would see a gradual change for the seven casinos so that they will gradually be incorporated into the same system as the other eighteen privately owned and run casinos in Chile and that the law could be fast tracked through the Chilean Congress.
