San Jose leaders are reducing card room fees and slashing police staff that monitor gambling, marking a turn in the city’s long — at times tense — relationship with casinos.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to lower regulatory fees for the city’s two licensed card rooms — Bay 101 and Casino M8trix — from $1 million to $857,000 per card room annually, while cutting two civilian positions in the San Jose Police Department’s Division of Gaming Control. City leaders say the decision rectifies sections of their gambling policy described as “duplicative” with state laws.
While the fee reduction loses the city an annual $440,000 in revenue, officials say the staff cuts will rebalance that through cost savings.
