From the Michigan City News-Dispatch:
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. – Negotiations between the state and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians to resolve problems blocking the distribution of casino revenue to local governments should wrap up in 60 to 90 days, a tribal official said.
The tribe, saying it was concerned over actions taken in forming the Local Revenue Sharing Board and its bylaws, withheld in escrow the first payment from electronic gambling earnings at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo Township. The payment was due in December.
Under a 1998 compact with the state, 2 percent of the earnings are to be paid by the tribe for LRSB distribution to local governments, schools and others directly affected by the casino.
According to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, that share of revenue is $977,266 for September and October, the casino’s first two months of operation. The compact also requires an 8 percent payment to the state, or more than $3.9 million for the same period, based on slot machine revenues of nearly $49 million.
Tribal Chairman John Miller said talks with the governor’s office are progressing and that resolution of the LRSB issues could alter the three-member panel.
Asked if the changes under discussion could add tribal members to the LRSB, Miller said that’s possible but not decided.
Changing the board would require amending the compact, which now specifies an LRSB comprised of two permanent members, representing Berrien County and New Buffalo Township, and a third member chosen by the first two.
The third member, the New Buffalo School Board, represents the community most affected by the casino. A unanimous vote of the LRSB is required to distribute any money.
A pending compact between the state and Gun Lake tribe of Potawatomi Indians may represent the “next generation” of such agreements, said Pokagon spokesman Tom Shields.
That agreement, which has been approved by the Michigan House but has not cleared the Senate, sets up a six-member LRSB with three members picked by the tribe. A four-member majority is required to distribute money under the compact.
Miller said he believes the Pokagon Band and governor’s office can reach an agreement with a couple more meetings. He said the focus is to come up with a distribution process the tribe sees as more fair in order to “strengthen the process.”
“It doesn’t have to get litigious,” Miller said. “I think it’s easily remedied.”
The governor can negotiate changes in Indian gaming compacts, according to a state court ruling. But succeeding compacts must be approved by the state Legislature.
In withholding the first payment to the LRSB, the tribe said it was concerned that bylaws were written by the permanent members before the third member was appointed.
Other concerns were that local governments would be considered for the third seat only if they approved the bylaws first, and that the compact was not followed in selecting the third member.
To help New Buffalo Township cover the cost of Berrien County sheriff’s deputies until the matter is resolved, Miller said, the tribe is paying money to the township from a different source, the Pokagon Fund.
“No one has any malicious intent,” Miller said. “We’re trying to provide clarity.”
The LRSB, which has not met with the tribe since the funding was withheld, said at the time that the members worked to maintain consistency with the compact. Bylaws that use formulas to distribute money for public safety, and to local governments and schools, were written to assure a fair distribution, the LRSB said.
The Pokagon Band is withholding its first 8 percent payment of casino revenue to the state while waiting for the outcome of a case in federal appeals court stemming from the state’s decision to start its Keno game in 2003.
The tribe is not a party in the state’s dispute with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, but compact payment provisions to the state are the same.
The two bands stopped paying 8 percent of electronic gaming revenues in 2004, claiming the Keno game violated a compact prohibition against state electronic gaming.
The state filed suit, maintaining that Keno is only an extension of the lottery.
Last year, the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids ruled in favor of the state and issued a judgment ordering the two tribes to pay more than $44 million, including interest. The case is on appeal.
Miller said Four Winds, which opened in August, is attracting 9,000 to 10,000 visitors daily, about the number projected. About 65 percent of the customers come from within a 50-mile radius, he said.
Turtle Talk 