Play Meter

Editorial
leo(ning obout the tox shiv
Help!
That's what operators throughout the country cry
when their state or local governments throw a new tax
or license fee or economically detrimental law at them.
Like an unsuspecting pedestrian being shivved by
street· wise punks, operators cringe whenever the
lawmakers' knives are sharpened.
Play Meter wants to help. We believe banding
together in associations is one avenue of succor. That's
why we so strongly support MOA. We also believe that
publicizing local or regional problems with lawmakers
and the laws they make can bring relief in the form of
public pressure, sharing experiences or just letting the
world know there is a problem.
That is the area with which we feel Play Meter can
help you most, but the magazine needs your help if it
expects to be successful in helping you fight bad laws
and bad taxes or licenses. That's one reason we started
our "Bull Sheet" mail card, which is the tear-out card
at the back of the magazine each month that features a
blank space for your comments about us and a
questionaire about you. Each month questions change.
Last month, we asked you to provide us with
information about the taxes and licenses you have to
pay.
We'd like to think you don't have problems in the tax
and license area, but we know differendy. All we can
think of is that you didn't notice the questions had
changed. If that's the case, please dig up your August
issue and fill out the "Bull Sheet" because we want to
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compile as much tax and license data as we possibly
can. The reason--to let you know what operators in
other states and communities within your own state
face and how different people react to these situations.
Help us help you. We agree with the California
operator who wished the Los Angeles County Tax
Assessor was buying his machines. The operator has to
pay annual personal property taxes on his machines.
the assessor determines the tax by percentaging the
value of the machines:
If they were purchased in 1975, the assessor
assesses them at 100 per cent of value. If purchased in
1974, he figures in 89 per cent, 81 per cent for 1973
machines, 65 per cent for 1972 machines and 47 per
cent for 1471 machines , all the way down to 15 per cent
for machines six years old.
What that meant for this particular operator was a
tax bill for one game room with 16 games of $342.47. It
meant a total tax bill of $2,100 for five amusement
centers located in bowling alleys.
As he put it, "This is an item that either runs most of
us out of business each year or severely cripples us. At
the very least, it takes money away that should be
channeled towards bills or machine payments; so there
is a domino effect."
We don't think this operator is alone in his
predicament or his opinion. Help us get a complete
picture of the operator's situation across the country.
Return the August "Bull Sheet" or drop us a ' note.