Plunging bingo tax collections are threatening state programs for senior citizens, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Friday.

More bingo operators are switching from a taxed state-issued license to one the state does not tax, and that's taking a toll on revenue for aging programs, said Bauer, who took control of the state's Office on Aging six months ago.

"My fight is the numbers continue to drop," Bauer said.
In the past two fiscal years, bingo tax collections have fallen 23 percent to $91.7 million. The numbers are falling faster now, state Revenue Department Director Burnet Maybank said. From July to November, bingo tax collections fell 36 percent when compared to the same period a year earlier.

"It appears to be in a virtual death spiral that, before long, all the games are going to migrate to the no-tax regime," Maybank said.

The shift already is having an effect on money earmarked for local aging grant programs that can provide a variety of services, including meals and home aides, Adams said. In 2000, those programs picked up $607,000 from bingo, but that program in 2004 received $518,000, Adams said.