Lottery Commission Sets Minimum Bid And Number Of Lvl Permits Available For First Competitive Bid

The West Virginia Lottery Commission today set a minimum bid of $5,000 per permit required during the First Competitive Bid Round for Limited Video Lottery (LVL) terminal permits for the 10-year period beginning July 1, 2011.

The Commission also set the number of permits available for bid during the First Round at 5,000, excluding permits that may be exercised under Certificates of Reservation.

Under provisions of the law governing LVL in West Virginia, the Lottery is to provide for the rebidding of terminal permits every 10 years, according to Lottery Director John Musgrave.

The First Competitive Bid will begin on August 2, 2010 and will end on October 18, 2010 at 11:00 AM. Musgrave said the Commission has not yet determined the minimum bid amount or number of permits available for any subsequent bids.

Noting that the bids for permits between November 2001 and the last bid held in February 2005 averaged just over $3,200, Musgrave said the $5,000 price-per-permit was reasonable. “The commission took under advisement consideration from all interested parties and evaluated various aspects of the process, including the 10-year inflation rate and previous bids, as well as the economy, continuity of state revenues, and an individual’s ability to buy a permit and stay in business.”

Musgrave said today’s commission meeting at lottery headquarters was preceded by the opportunity for public comments regarding the rebidding of LVL terminal permits under provisions of The Limited Video Lottery Act at both the May and June Commission Meetings, as well as discussion during public educational seminars recently held in both Morgantown and Charleston.

In addition, a series of statewide public hearings was held last year by Governor Manchin’s eight-member Select Panel for Limited Video Lottery Statutory Review. Chaired by Lottery Director John Musgrave, the panel was formed to assemble information and data from both oral and written comments concerning LVL operations in West Virginia.

The annual license fees to own and/or operate machines for Operators and Retailers are $10,000 and $500, respectively. Successful bidders for the 10-year permit period will also pay an annual fee of $1,000 per permit to renew the rights to their machines.

While auditing for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 has not been completed, Musgrave said gross sales from LVL in fiscal year 2010 totaled more than $397 million.

Primarily funded through Limited Video Lottery games, the West Virginia PROMISE Scholarship Program has received more than $194.5 million in Lottery revenue since the program was first implemented in 2002, according to Musgrave.