Process too onerous for service clubs, a headache for Township
Jan 27, 2010 - 10:42 AM
By Chris Hall
SCUGOG -- Revised rules issued by the Province recently relating to obtaining lottery licenses has left Scugog service clubs tangled in bureaucratic red tape and the Township questioning if it should continue acting as an agent for Ontario.
Last month, the Rotary Club of Port Perry opted to shelve its annual elimination draw due to revamped rules attached to securing a lottery license. The popular fundraiser, where 100 tickets are sold for $100 each, usually garners the Scugog service club about $4,500. In turn, the Rotary club invests that money back into the community.
There is a large amount of paperwork, both before and after an event, that must be filled out to meet lottery license requirements, explained the Rotary club's John Richardson.
A small error or omission can delay or void a license request, a myriad of rules must be adhered to and an appointment must be made with the Township to review a submission, he added recently.
Simply, explained Mr. Richardson, the process is now too confusing and too much work for a return of a little more than $4,000.
"The basic reason is the amount of work required for volunteers with the paperwork and the follow-up. Sometimes we don't feel like we can commit to the number of hours this takes," he said.
Thankfully, added Mr. Richardson, Port Perry's Coldwell Banker branch has pledged $5,000 to the Rotary club, which will make up the shortfall from the loss of the elimination draw.
The Province introduced new, more stringent rules surrounding lottery licenses about three years ago, shortly after Ontario's auditor general discovered some irregularities within the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLGC).
The resulting new regulations rising from the accusations surrounding the OLGC, said Durham MPP John O'Toole, "are probably more appropriate but they make it so onerous."
The lottery license process, he added, "is in a bit of shambles because 99 per cent of the volunteer organizations (applying for licenses) are accountable and they don't need this onerous, bureaucratic process.
"In most cases, the money goes back into the community and it's a shame," he said of groups deciding to forego their fundraising efforts.
Caught in the middle is Scugog Township.
As an agent for Ontario that oversees local license requests, Scugog sometimes takes the brunt of the public's frustration over the system.
On Monday, Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce informed her colleagues that she's received complaints over the past couple of weeks that area service clubs and charities are finding the process "too bureaucratic and don't want to take out a license under these types of rules."
The mayor then requested that staff compile a report on the lottery license system and what would be the consequences if the Township opted out of the process. Groups can still make application to the Province directly, added Mayor Pearce.
For each lottery license granted, the Township gets three per cent of the prize money to cover administrative costs.
Recommend :