Venue expenses cap will hurt the community

2 September 2004

Venue expenses cap will hurt the community

Less money for both the community and the government will result from the new cap on venue expenses established by the Department of Internal Affairs, says Bruce Robertson, Chief Executive of the Hospitality Association of New Zealand.

High turnover venues will not be reimbursed sufficiently to encourage venue operators to maintain current operating hours and turnover. They will be forced to make commercial decisions based on the new DIA venue cap and put simply, that will result in less money for the community and government.

The new formula does not cover the increased cost of compliance imposed by the Gambling Act and nor does it currently reflect true operating costs. For instance, it is ludicrous that a share of costs such as car parking and toilets cannot be apportioned against gaming revenue. It defies common sense to suggest that gaming machine patrons don’t drive cars or use the toilets.

It is extremely regrettable that community funding will drop because of ill-conceived departmental decisions, concluded Mr Robertson.

ENDS

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