Online gaming on Tinian was, on Friday, Sept 22, 2017, officially approved by the Tinian and Aguiguan Legislative Delegation as a local measure amending the 1989 Casino Gaming Control Act of Tinian, local news outlet Marianas Variety reports. The House Local Bill 20-30, which introduced the change, will also be amending the taxation rates and casino licensing fees in the jurisdiction.
According to the news report, the Friday measure was unanimously passed by the attending four members and witnessed by Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas and Joe Kiyoshi, the gaming control commissioner on Tinian, among other representatives from the municipal council.
Per the measure, a new paragraph was added to Section 15 of the revised 1989 ACT under (g) which legalizes online gaming with licensed operators, provided they implement geolocation software to limit the online gaming activities within the “intra-island borders of the Second Senatorial District” and among the jurisdictions where online gambling is legalized. And as part of the changes to the licensing and taxation fees, online operators will now be legally obliged to pay a supplemental yearly licensing fee of $300,000 to operate online gaming while also paying a 5% gross online revenue tax each month.
Prospective online operators would also be required to have a hotel-cas 7BALL ino complex with at least 300 rooms to be allowed to operate online gaming activities. For now, the only casinos that could meet the outlined criteria have yet to be built, with the soft launch of Alter City’s Plumeria Golf Resort estimated to happen in 2019 and the Tinian Ocean View Resort still waiting for its petition for community backing of the resort to reach the target goal.