A. Definitions: For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
BUSINESS: A voluntary organization composed of individuals and businesses who have joined together to advance the commercial, financial, industrial and civic interests of the village.
CHARITABLE: An organization or institution organized and operated to benefit an indefinite number of the public. The service rendered to those eligible for benefits must also confer some benefit on the public.
EDUCATIONAL: An organization or institution organized and operated to provide systematic instruction in useful branches of learning by methods common to schools and institutions of learning which compare favorable in their scope and intensity with the course of study presented in tax supported schools.
FRATERNAL: An organization of persons having a common interest, the primary interest of which is to both promote the welfare of its members and to provide assistance to the general public in such a way as to lessen the burdens of government by caring for those that otherwise would be cared for by the government.
LABOR: An organization composed of workers organized with the objective of betterment of the conditions of those engaged in such pursuit and the development of a higher degree of efficiency in their respective occupations.
NET PROCEEDS: The gross receipts from the conduct of raffles, less reasonable sums expended for prizes, local license fees and other reasonable operating expenses incurred as a result of operating a raffle.
NONPROFIT: An organization or institution organized and conducted on a not for profit basis with no personal profit inuring to anyone as a result of the operation.
RAFFLE: A form of lottery, in which:
1. The player pays or agrees to pay something of value for a chance, represented and differentiated by a number or by a combination of numbers or by some other medium, one or more of which chances is to be designated the winning chance;
2. The winning chance is to be determined through a drawing or by some other method based on an element of chance by an act or set of acts on the part of persons conducting or connected with the lottery, except that the winning chance shall not be determined by the outcome of a publicly exhibited sporting contest.
RELIGIOUS: Any church, congregation, society, or organization founded for the purpose of religious worship.
VETERANS: An organization or association comprised of members of which substantially all are individuals who are veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its members and to provide assistance to the general public in such a way as to confer a public benefit.
B. License Required; Application:
1. No organization within the Village shall operate a raffle without first having secured a license pursuant to the provisions of this subsection B. The maximum price which may be charged for each raffle chance issued or sold shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00). The maximum number of days during which the chances may be issued or sold shall be three hundred sixty five (365) days. As a result of the charitable nature of eligible organizations, the fee for each license shall be deemed waived for each and every applicant.
2. Any person desiring to secure a license to conduct a raffle pursuant to the provisions of this subsection B shall make an application to the Village Clerk upon a form provided by the Village. The Village Clerk shall act upon all such applications within thirty (30) days from the date of application. Appeals to any denials by the Village Clerk to an application shall be made to the Village Manager within five (5) days of the receipt of notification of denial. The Village Manager shall render the final decision on an appeal within thirty (30) days from receipt of the appeal.
3. Licenses shall be issued only to bona fide religious, charitable, labor, fraternal, education, veterans' or business organizations that operate without profit to their members and which have been in existence continuously for a period of five (5) years immediately before making application for a license and which have had during that entire five (5) year period a bona fide membership engaged in carrying out their objectives.
4. The license and application for license must specify the area or areas within the Village in which raffle chances will be sold or issued, the time period during which raffle chances will be sold or issued, the time or determination of winning chances and the location or locations at which winning chances will be determined.
5. The license application must contain a sworn statement attesting to the not for profit character of the prospective license organization, signed by the presiding officer and the secretary of that organization or the manager of the raffle.
6. The following are ineligible for any license under this section:
a. Any person who has been convicted of a felony;
b. Any person who is or has been a professional gambler or gambling promoter;
c. Any person who is not of good moral character;
d. Any person or organization failing to comply with any of the provisions of the Illinois Raffles and Poker Runs Act.
C. Restrictions: The conducting of raffles is subject to all of the provisions of the Illinois Raffles and Poker Runs Act. As a condition of an Elk Grove Village raffle license, it is incumbent upon each applicant for a raffle license to familiarize themselves with and abide by the Illinois Raffles and Poker Runs Act and any restrictions, requirements, changes, or amendments to said Act.
D. Raffles; Manager: All operation of and the conduct of raffles shall be under the supervision of a single raffles manager designated by the organization.
E. Records: Each organization licensed to conduct raffles and chances shall keep a complete record of charitable games conducted within the previous three (3) years.
F. Compliance With State Statute: All raffles licensed under the provisions of this section must be conducted in accordance with the Illinois Raffles and Poker Runs Act.
G. Penalty: Any person, firm or corporation who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty five dollars ($25.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each violation, and a separate violation shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs.
(Ord. 2837, 6-12-2001; amd. Ord. 2866, 11-13-2001; Ord. 3041, 6-21-2005; Ord. 3569, 9-11-2018)
Statutory reference:
230 ILCS 15/0.01 et seq.
230 ILCS 15/4, 15/5 as amended