A 3 percent tax on bingo game sales lasted only seven months -- seven months too long, say members of local civic groups who raise money for charity with bingo.

"The law increased the taxes we paid every month on bingo games from about $800 to $2,000," said Ray Drury, a member of the Cape Girardeau Elk's Lodge, which hosts bingo games every Wednesday night. "It more than doubled the tax we paid to the state."

Earlier this week Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a bill that repealed the 3 percent bingo tax, thus changing the way receipts from the legal games are taxed.

When it was passed in the 1993 legislative session, the 3 percent tax was designed to be used to help finance the building and repair of state veterans homes. But the law met with a great deal of resistance from civic organizations that used the legalized form of gambling to raise money for philanthropic causes.

"What everyone was fussing about is we all give money to the veterans home to begin with," said Drury. "You can't tell me that the federal government doesn't give the state money to build and maintain veterans homes.

"Our main concern is the people inside the veterans homes -- the people who fought for our country," he said. "If the roof leaks, we don't consider that our problem. Let the federal government pick up that tab. Don't make other charitable organizations suffer because the feds are wasting money."

Lawmakers expected the tax increase to generate about $5.7 million a year. Prior to its passage, the state levied a 2.5 percent tax on bingo game receipts, plus a tax of $10 per box on pulltab cards. Those proceeds -- an estimated $5.3 million -- go into the state's general revenue fund.

With the repeal of the bingo tax, a percentage of the admission fees to riverboat gambling operations will be directed to the state revenue fund to fill the shortfall. And beginning today, the Missouri Gaming Commission will assume a watchdog role over bingo operations throughout the state. In addition, bingo receipts tax will be replaced with a tax on bingo cards to be paid by the supplier.

The taxing of the cards could mean an extra $1 million for the state, gaming officials project. Until today the state collected about 5.5 percent of the total bingo receipts. Now that number will drop to about 3.5 percent.

Terry Crowell, a member of the Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club, said his organization's revenues from bingo were, "down considerably in recent months." The club, which hosts bingo games at the A.C. Brase Arena Building every Monday night, raises more than $100,000 per year for scholarships and area charitable organizations.

"We are very pleased the law was repealed," said Crowell. "We try to put everything we raise back into the community. That's something you can feel good about."

But the 1993 tax law was not the only obstacle for the Cape Girardeau Elk's Club to overcome. The organization, which raises between $16,000-$17,000 annually for charity solely through bingo, began a direct competition with another non-profit organization for the Wednesday night bingo crowd shortly after the law went into effect.

"It didn't hurt us per se; it hurt the people who reaped the benefits of the proceeds," said Drury. "Maybe now that the law has been repealed, we can give a little more to those who really need it."