From the Battle Creek Inquirer:
The governor’s attorney said Tuesday the revised compact for FireKeepers Casino should be done within 60 days and offered clues to what the new document might look like.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, owner of FireKeepers, has been in talks the past several weeks with the state of Michigan on changes to the 1998 compact that allowed the tribe to move forward with the casino.
On Monday, John Wernet, general counsel to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, would not offer details to what changes might be made to the compact but said it would be similar to changes made to compacts with the Pokagon Band (New Buffalo) of Potawatomi, the Little River (Manistee) Band of Ottawa and Little Traverse Bay (Petoskey) Band of Odawa Indians.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that the resolutions will come out dramatically different (from those compacts),” Wernet said. “It’s likely they’re at least going to be in the same ballpark.”
The Little River and Little Traverse Bay amendments allowed the tribe a new formula to its payments in lieu of taxes to the state. In those amendments, if casino revenue for one year is less than the average revenue of the previous three years, those tribes can reduce their annual payment to the state by twice the percentage its revenue fell from the average.
Those amended compacts also allowed those tribes to operate satellite gambling facilities in addition to their main sites.
Under the Pokagon amendments, however, the local revenue sharing board, which determines how the 2 percent revenue the casino owes local governments is spent, was changed from a three-member board, as the board here is now, to a five-member board.
The Pokagons’ three-member board included a representative of New Buffalo Township and Berrien County and a third member appointed by the other two. The amended compact added a tribal representative and a representative from New Buffalo city, with the fifth member picked unanimously by the other four.
If similar changes are made here, officials such as Emmett Township Supervisor Gene Adkins, Calhoun County board chairman Mike Rae and City Manager Ken Tsuchiyama have ventured that the FireKeepers revenue sharing board would include representatives from Calhoun County, Emmett Township (where the casino is set to open within days), a tribal member and likely a representative from Battle Creek, as it is the county’s largest municipality.
But all were quick to say those were just guesses, as neither the tribe nor state is confirming any changes.
Turtle Talk 