N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9 § 5121.8

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 43, October 23, 2024

Section 5121.8 - Opening, counting and recording of drop box contents

(a) The contents of the drop boxes shall be counted and recorded in the count room in conformity with this section unless the commission has expressly approved in writing an alternative plan submitted by the video lottery gaming agent. Under no circumstances shall the video lottery gaming agent conduct counting and recording of the drop box contents in a manner that does not comply with the one set forth in these regulations or one that has been expressly approved in writing by the commission.

(b) The video lottery gaming agent shall place on file with the commission the specific times during which the drop boxes are to be removed from video lottery terminals and the specific times during which the contents of the drop boxes are to be counted and recorded. Drop boxes shall be removed from video lottery terminals and be counted and recorded with sufficient frequency to allow daily electronic funds transfers of all money owed to the commission and the State, including tax and other withholdings, as applicable.

(c) The opening, counting, and recording of the contents of drop boxes shall be performed in the presence of a count room supervisor. To gain entrance to the count room, an employee shall present a video lottery gaming credential with photograph.

(d) All persons present in the count room during the counting process shall wear a full-length short-sleeve (mid-forearm), one-piece pocket-less outer garment with openings only for the arms, feet, and neck, unless another type of garment is approved in writing by the commission.

(e) No person present shall:

(1) carry a pocketbook or other container unless it is transparent; or

(2) remove his or her hands from or return them to a position on or above the count table unless both the backs and palms of his or her hands are first held straight out and exposed to the view of other members of the count team and the closed circuit television camera.

(f) Immediately prior to the commencement of the count:

(1) the doors to the count room shall be securely locked;

(2) a count team member shall notify a person assigned to the surveillance department closed circuit television monitoring room that the count is about to begin, after which such person shall make an audio-video and/or digital recording, with the time and date inserted thereon, of the entire counting process, which recording shall be retained by the surveillance department for at least 21 days from the date of recordation unless otherwise directed in writing by the commission; and

(3) the count room supervisor, or his or her supervisor, shall record, in writing, the name and employee license number of each person who shall participate in the counting process and whether each such individual is scheduled to:

(i) be present in the count room during the entire counting process;

(ii) enter the count room during the counting process; or

(iii) leave the count room prior to the conclusion of the counting process.

(g) No person shall be permitted to enter or leave the count room during the counting process, except in an emergency, unless such person's name is on the written notice required by paragraph (f)(3) of this section.

(1) If the video lottery gaming agent permits a member of the count team to enter or leave the count room during the counting process, any employee remaining in the count room shall be required to display his or her hands in accordance with subdivision (e) of this section and to step away from the count table until the count team member has entered or left the count room.

(2) The counting and recording process shall be discontinued whenever less than three count team members are present in the count room.

(3) Once the counting process has been started, the count room supervisor shall be required to notify the surveillance department closed circuit television monitoring room whenever a count room door will be opened, prior to the opening of such door.

(h) Procedures and requirements for conducting the count shall be as follows:

(1) as each drop box is placed on the count table, one count team member shall orally announce, in a volume of voice to be heard by all persons present and to be recorded by the audio-video and/or digital recording device, the game, video lottery terminal number, and shift marked thereon for drop boxes;

(2) in full view of the closed circuit television cameras located in the count room, the contents of each drop box shall be emptied on the count table and either manually counted separately on the count table or counted on a currency counting machine that is located in a conspicuous location on, near or adjacent to the count table;

(3) immediately after the contents of a drop box are emptied onto the count table, the inside of the drop box shall be held up to the full view of a closed circuit television camera and shall be shown to a second employee to assure that all contents of the drop box have been removed. The drop box shall then be locked and placed in the storage area for drop boxes approved in writing by the commission;

(4) the contents of each drop box shall be segregated by a count team member into separate stacks on the count table by each denomination of currency by type, record or document, except that the commission may permit the utilization of a machine to sort currency automatically by denomination;

(5) each denomination of currency shall be counted separately by one count team member who shall place individual bills of the same denomination on the count table in full view of a closed circuit television camera, after which the currency shall be counted by a second count team member who shall be unaware of the result of the original count and who, after completing this second count, shall confirm the accuracy of the total, either orally or in writing, with that reached by the first count team member, except that the commission may permit the video lottery gaming agent to perform aggregate counts by denomination of all currency collected in substitution of the second count by drop box, if the commission is satisfied that the original counts are being performed automatically by a machine that counts and automatically records the amount of currency, and that the accuracy of the machine has been suitably tested and proven. The commission may permit the utilization of currency counting machines if prior to the start of the first use of the counting machine each gaming day, except for subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, the count room supervisor shall:

(i) verify that the counting machine has a zero balance on such machine's terminal unit display panel and has a receipt printed that denotes "-0- cash on hand" and "-0- notes in machine," or some other means to indicate that the machine has been cleared of all currency;

(ii) visually check the counting machine to be sure there are no bills remaining in the various compartments of the machine;

(iii) supervise a count team member who shall randomly select a drop box and place the entire contents of that drop box into the first counting machine, which shall count the currency by denomination and produce a print out of the total amount of currency by denomination. Any soiled or off-sorted bills shall be re-fed into the machine and manual adjustments shall be made to the total. The total as recorded on the counting machine and any adjustments made thereto shall not be revealed to anyone until the final verification process is completed;

(iv) supervise a second count team member, independent of the team member performing the initial count by machine, who shall manually count and summarize the currency from each drop box counted in accordance with subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph. This total shall be posted and maintained separately from the total posted in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph and shall not be revealed to anyone until the final verification process is completed;

(v) supervise the second count team member's passing of the currency to a count team member, who shall be unaware of the results of the manual count. The count team member shall count the contents of that drop box counted in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph using a second counting machine. Such machine shall produce a printout of the total amount of currency contained in the drop box. Any soiled or off-sorted bills shall be re-fed into the machine and manual adjustments shall be made to the total. The total as recorded on the counting machine and any adjustments thereto shall not be revealed to anyone until the final verification process is completed;

(vi) following the completion of the test procedures, compare the totals from the test receipts of both counting machines, as computed in subparagraphs (iii) and (v) of this paragraph, to the manual total computed in subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph. If the three totals compared above are in agreement, the count room supervisor shall sign and date and record his or her employee license number on his or her test receipts and forward such receipts to the accounting department at the end of the count process;

(vii) if the three totals do not agree, appropriate repairs shall be made to the counting machine and the procedures in subparagraphs (i) through (vi) of this paragraph shall be repeated until all totals are in agreement. The counting machine shall not be used until these totals are in agreement;

(6) as the contents of each drop box are counted, a count team member shall manually record or cause a computer system to record, in a manner approved in writing by the commission, the following information on the master game report or other supporting documentation by video lottery terminal identification number:

(i) the amount of each denomination of currency counted;

(ii) the amount of all denominations of currency counted;

(iii) the gaming date of the items being recorded and the date the master gaming report is being prepared or generated;

(7) after the contents of each drop box are counted and recorded, a member of the count team shall manually record or cause the computer to record on the master game report, by game, the total amount of currency together with such additional information as may be required on the master game report by the commission or the video lottery gaming agent.

(8) notwithstanding any inconsistent requirements in paragraphs (1) through (7) of this subdivision, if the video lottery gaming agent's system of internal controls provides for the count team functions to be comprised only of counting and recording currency, the video lottery gaming agent's accounting department employees shall perform all other counting, recording and comparing duties required by this section;

(9) after preparation of the master game report, the count team members performing the banking functions and the count room supervisor shall sign and record their employee license number on the reports attesting to the accuracy of the information recorded thereon. All other count team members shall either sign and record their employee license number on the master game report or such other document as approved in writing by the commission as evidence of their participation in the counting of the drop boxes. Any person who, in accordance with subdivision (f) of this section, is scheduled to leave the count room prior to the completion of the entire count process, shall also sign and record such person's employee license number and shall record the time that such person exited the count room. Any person who enters or leaves the count room due to an emergency shall sign and record their name, employee license number, and time of the entry or exit on the master game report, or such other document as approved in writing by the commission, except that, if the person exiting the count room is unable to sign the document due to the nature of the emergency, the count room supervisor shall record the person's name, employee license number, the time of exit and a notation describing the emergency on the document.

(i) After the contents of all drop boxes have been counted:

(1) All cash shall be presented in the count room by a count team member to a main bank cashier or cage supervisor who, prior to having access to the information recorded on the master game report and in the presence of a count team member shall recount, either manually or mechanically, the cash presented and attest by signature and employee license number on the master game report the amounts of cash counted, after which the employee shall sign the report evidencing such employee's presence during the count and the fact that both the cashier or cage supervisor and the count team have agreed on the total amounts of cash counted. The video lottery gaming agent may, if approved in writing by the commission, present the main bank cashier or cage supervisor with the cash obtained from the count of the drop boxes either:

(i) at the same time, in which event the cash shall be presented immediately after both counts have been concluded; provided, however, that the video lottery gaming agent shall set forth in such agent's system of internal controls the procedures for segregating and securing the cash from the first count that is concluded until presented to the main bank cashier or cage supervisor after the conclusion of the second count; or

(ii) separately, in which event the cash from each count shall be presented immediately after the conclusion of the count; provided, however, that if the cash from the first count that is concluded is presented while the second count is in progress:

(a) there shall be no cash in the count room removed from an opened box that has not already been counted at least once; and;

(b) all count room employees shall be required to step away from the count table until the presentation is completed and the cash and promotional coupons from the first count are removed from the count room.

(2) The master game report, after signing, shall be transported directly to the accounting department and shall not be available to any cashiers' cage personnel.

(j) In addition to the procedures for conducting the count by the count team set forth under paragraphs (h)(4), (5) and (6) of this section, and the procedures for conducting the recount by a main bank cashier or cage supervisor set forth under subparagraph (i)(1)(i) of this section, in the event of a variance attributable to intermixed denominations of cash, an adjustment shall be made to the master game report reflecting the amount and source (identified to a video lottery terminal) of such variance.

(k) The originals and copies of the master game report shall, on a daily basis, in the accounting department be:

(1) compared for agreement with each other, on a test basis if the originals are received from the count room, by persons with no recording responsibilities and, if applicable, to triplicates or stored data;

(2) reviewed for the appropriate number and propriety of signatures on a test basis;

(3) accounted for by series numbers, if applicable;

(4) tested for proper calculation, summarization, and recording;

(5) subsequently recorded; and

(6) maintained and controlled by the accounting department as a permanent accounting record.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 5121.8