 The amount of money spent on charitable gambling last year was one for the record books, but that also may mean record taxes. Haiti Collider shows how you can get involved to prevent that from happening. 1.7 billion dollars, that's how much Minnesota spent on gambling last year. Allied Charities of Minnesota or ACM represents the 1,200 licensed charitable organizations in the state. They invited local organizations to the Bemidji Eagles Club to examine the future of charitable gaming. It's to see what's on their mind to talk about the issues that we feel are important and just to get a sense of what we need to be working for, especially looking towards the 2018 legislative session. ACM is holding 12 sessions around the state where they spark a conversation focusing on what local charities are dealing with. There seems to be a growing consensus on one issue. 1.7 billion dollars, and the increase that is going to the state which turns into less money for us, for our missions and our communities. Lund says this would indicate that charitable organizations are becoming tax collectors for the state, and that's what ACM wants to avoid. Nothing is set in stone and must go through the state legislature first. There is something you can do about it now. Contact their legislators and let them know how important this is. And the issues that confront their local communities, the needs in our local communities are growing and we want to be able to meet those. We believe that the people that raise the money know best where that money should go. According to the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, charitable gambling is only conducted by registered nonprofits. There are five types of lawful gambling which are bingo, paddle wheels, tipboards, raffles and pull tabs. For the 2016 fiscal year, pull tabs were pretty popular and brought in nearly 1.5 billion dollars in sales. The proceeds from lawful gambling are used for anything ranging from youth activities to the support of non-licensed veterans clubs. Our business grew by one to two percent. While the state's business, their take grew from high teens to low twenties. So on an increase of 194 million dollars in sales, we netted one million dollars. That's of grave concern to us. It's a requirement for a majority of organizations to spend at least 30 percent of their net profits on lawful purposes. And that includes taxes. In Bemidji, Heidi Clauter, Lakeland News. Minnesota is the number one state in the United States for charitable gambling activity. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.