ORANGE — The Selectboard this week opted against reducing the annual automatic amusement device fee, with members reporting that no business has approached the town to ask for such relief.

Vice Chair Andrew Smith drafted a policy change for his colleagues to consider after they voted last month to reduce this year’s fees for Dave’s Arcade, which opened in July with limited days and hours, to help the business get off the ground. Orange set its fee at $100 per machine decades ago, but Selectboard members lowered the amount to $400 in total through Dec. 31 for Dave’s Arcade to accommodate the new operation, which has 10 machines.

Smith, the only Selectboard member to vote in favor of reducing the annual automatic amusement device fee to $20 per machine starting Jan. 1, 2024, said he was interested in giving “somewhat of a break to small businesses.”

“My reasoning behind this is that it is small-business friendly,” Smith said, adding that it would be a very small hit to the town in terms of reduced revenue, which he argued would be miniscule compared to the benefit these establishments would feel.

State law requires municipalities to charge businesses $20 to $100 each year for every automatic amusement device, which it defines as coin- or token-operated games involving at least some player skill. Pinball machines, arcade games and coin-operated pool tables fall under this category, as do jukeboxes, but slot machines do not.

Smith said five establishments in town — the Wheelerville Community Club, Mike’s Place, American Legion Post 172, Walmart and Dave’s Arcade — have automatic amusement devices and he thanked Brianne Bruso, administrative assistant in Town Hall, for helping him research that information.

But Selectboard Clerk Pat Lussier noted no one has ever approached the board to say they are feeling pinched by the current fee.

“The figures that have been presented don’t look like a lot, but with a town that struggles for every penny that we can get our hands on, we need it, and where there hasn’t been any objection to the fee in the past, I would say I’m comfortable leaving it where it is,” Lussier said.

Selectboard member Richard Sheridan said he knows the annual machine fee has been set at $100 each for at least 40 years because he owned an arcade, with at least 20 machines, in Orange for about 2½ years in the mid-1980s. He said cumulatively the fees add up to “quite a bit of money.” Still, Sheridan said he is confident all effected establishments have taken into account the $100-per-machine fee and adjusted their budgets to accommodate it.

Member Jane Peirce said the fact that no business owner has asked for a fee reduction “tells you that these machines pay for themselves.” She mentioned she would be happy to revisit this issue if it is brought forward by a business owner.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.