(1) Except as specified
in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, information and records of the commission
enumerated by this section are confidential and may not be disclosed except
pursuant to a court order. No person may by subpoena or statutory authority obtain
such information or records. Information and records considered confidential
include:
(a) Tax returns of individual licensees;
(b) Credit reports and security reports and procedures of applicants and
other persons seeking to do business or doing business with the commission;
(c) Audit work papers, worksheets, and auditing procedures used by the
commission, its agents, or employees; and
(d) Investigative reports concerning violations of law or concerning the
backgrounds of licensees, applicants, or other persons prepared by division
investigators or investigators from other agencies working with the commission and
any work papers related to the reports; except that the commission may, in its sole
discretion, disclose so much of the reports or work papers as it deems necessary
and prudent.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to requests for information
or records described in subsection (1) of this section from the governor, attorney
general, state auditor, any of the respective district attorneys of this state, or any
federal or state law enforcement agency, or for the use of the information or
records by the executive director, director, or commission for official purposes, or
by employees of the division or the department in the performance of their
authorized and official duties.
(3) (a) This section does not make confidential the aggregate tax collections
during any reporting period, the names and businesses of licensees, or figures
showing the aggregate amount of money bet during any reporting period. The
division shall publicly report this information on a monthly basis in statements of
net sports betting proceeds and sports betting taxes. Public reporting shall be
made electronically and posted on the division's website.
(b) (I) The division shall publicly report monthly and annual net sports betting
proceeds, aggregated on a city-by-city basis for the city of Cripple Creek, the city
of Central, and the city of Black Hawk, based on the physical location of master
licensees' casinos. The data must also contain subtotals for proceeds derived from
on-site and internet sports betting operations, respectively. To the extent partial-year data are available for any reporting period that preceded January 1, 2022, the
division shall report any available monthly figures and shall note that annual figures
do not reflect activity during the entire reporting period.
(II) If there are fewer than three holders of active and valid sports betting
licenses in any of the cities listed in subsection (3)(b)(I) of this section, then, to
protect the licensees' privacy, the division shall aggregate that city's sports betting
proceeds with the sports betting proceeds of the city that has the next lowest
number of active and valid sports betting licensees.
(III) If the Gilpin county assessor or Teller county assessor uses information
aggregated pursuant to subsection (3)(b)(II) of this section to establish the actual
value of a casino, whether sports betting is offered on the premises of the casino or
online by the casino or by a contractor, and the use of the aggregated information
results in an increase in the actual value of the casino's real property, the county
assessor or an authorized agent of the assessor shall:
(A) Present the county assessor's estimate of the increase in the casino's
valuation, based on the aggregated data, to the taxpayer on or before March 1 of
each revaluation year;
(B) Consider any information that the taxpayer, in its discretion, chooses to
disclose and provides to the county assessor or authorized agent of the assessor on
or before March 15 of the revaluation year tending to show that the value attributed
to the casino based on the aggregated data is incorrect;
(C) Treat any such disclosure by the taxpayer as the proprietary and
confidential information of the taxpayer and shall not reveal the information to any
other person, notwithstanding any provision of the Colorado Open Records Act,
part 2 of article 72 of title 24, or any other law. The confidentiality created by this
subsection (3)(b)(III)(C) applies at all times during the real property assessment
process, beginning when the information is first provided to the county assessor or
authorized agent of the assessor and continuing through county board of
equalization proceedings, any protest process, any board of assessment appeal
proceedings, and any court proceedings. To the extent this information is the
subject of administrative or court proceedings, the discussion of the information
shall not be public and shall be restricted to in camera proceedings under seal.
(D) Only use such aggregated information or information provided by the
taxpayer that establishes income actually received by the casino because the
casino conducts sports betting on its licensed premises, either directly or by
contracting with a licensed sports betting operator; or contracts with a third party
so that the third party may conduct a licensed online sports betting operation in
conjunction with the casino's master license.
(IV) Nothing in this subsection (3)(b) authorizes the division to produce any
document or information that directly discloses, or would indirectly result in the
disclosure of, taxpayer information that is confidential under this article 30 or any
other provision of law.
(4) (a) A person who discloses confidential records or information in violation
of this section commits a class 2 misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in
section 18-1.3-501. A criminal prosecution pursuant to this section must be brought
within five years after the date the violation occurred.
(b) If a person violating this section is an officer or employee of the state, in
addition to any other penalties or sanctions, the person is subject to dismissal if the
procedures in section 24-50-125 are followed.
(c) A person is liable for treble damages to an injured party in a civil action
the subject of which includes the release of confidential records or information, if
the person violating this section is a current employee or officer of the state who
obtained the confidential records or information specified in subsection (1) of this
section during his or her employment.
(d) A former employee or officer is liable for treble damages to an injured
party in a civil action the subject of which includes the release of records or
information after leaving state employment if the person violating this section is a
former employee or officer of the state who obtained the confidential records or
information during his or her employment and the person executed a written
statement with the state agreeing to be held to the confidentiality standards
expressed in this subsection (4).