Here is the State of Michigan’s Sixth Circuit brief in Northville Downs v. Governor — State of Michigan Appellee Brief
The appellant’s brief is here, as are lower court materials.
gaming
Gun Lake Band Groundbreaking Ceremony
🙂
Huron Nottawaseppi Negotiates for Lower Revenue Sharing Rate with State
From Indianz:
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians Indians signed an amended Class III gaming compact with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D).
The new agreement lowers the tribe’s revenue-sharing rate. In 2009 and 2010, the tribe will share 4 percent of slot machine profits from the FireKeepers Casino with the state, down from 8 percent in the original compact.
In 2011, the tribe will share 4 percent of slot profits under $100 million and 6 percent of slot profits over $100 million. Starting in 2012, the rate will based on a sliding scale, with payments not to exceed 8 percent of slot profits.
Despite the lower rate, the tribe will continue to share 2 percent with local communities. The amended compact restructures the Local Revenue Sharing Board, expanding it from three to six members.
“The amended compact will help create new jobs, new economic opportunities and new revenues for the tribe, local community and the state,” Chairwoman Laura Spurr said in a press release.
The tribe and the state already submitted the amended compact to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They said the agreement was approved and will become effective once a notice is published in the Federal Register.
The changes bring the Nottawaseppi Huron agreement in line with other tribal-state gaming compacts.
Union Organizing at Soaring Eagle?
From Indianz:
Two employees of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan want to organize a union at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.
Peter Gallinat and Dawaine Penney recently contacted the United Auto Workers. The employees don’t have any complaints but they want to be able to negotiate with Saginaw Chippewa management.
“We just want a voice and a say in the contract. And to be treated with dignity and respect,” Penney, a table games dealer, told The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun.
Two prior union efforts at Soaring Eagle failed. The UAW is organizing among card dealers at the casino owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut.
Get the Story:
Two Soaring Eagle workers contact UAW (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 9/12)
Martinez v. City of Gold Casino — Immunity Waiver Via Worker’s Comp Dispute
Here is the New Mexico Court of Appeal’s opinion in Martinez v. City of Gold Casino, owned by the Pojoaque Pueblo. The New Mexico Supreme Court recently declined to review this case. It’s a bit confusing. It seems to hold that the Pueblo, and the Buffalo Thunder Development Authority have not waived immunity from suit, but that the Pojoaque Gaming, Inc. (PGI) entity has. And that the petitioner, Martinez, was fired only after he brought a worker’s comp claim in the state system. The court orders PGI to rehire Martinez to a job similar to his old one, while acknowledging that the Pojoaque gaming regulators probably won’t give him his gaming license back.
Mashantucket Pequot Debt Restructuring Affects All Indian Gaming Operations
From Gambling Compliance (via Pechanga):
Any reassurance by the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Authority that it will honour its debt obligations could lend much needed legitimacy across the tribal gaming sector and would set a good example for other indebted tribal gaming operators, according to analysts at rating agency Moody’s.
The Mashantucket Pequot’s decision in late August to hire a financial advisor heightened fears that the operator behind the Foxwood’s Casino in Connecticut might be considering a default on its $1.5bn debt load. The move saw both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgrade the tribe’s rating by three notches.
Keith Foley, senior vice president of debt research at Moody’s, said it was the lack of information from the tribe about its actions that was the main cause for the “pretty severe” downgrade.
“The two primary reasons for that were, one, the announcement was very brief which raised a lot of uncertainty in terms of what the options are or what they were thinking. In addition, the statement that they hired a financial advisor, particularly given some of the challenges in the Connecticut gaming market, suggested to us that there is always the possibility that an option could be chosen that could lead to some impairment to creditors.”
However, Foley was keen to stress that a “favourable outcome” might still be possible, and that this could have positive ramifications far beyond the confines of the Mashantucket’s own debt dilemma. “One of the things I would like to point out is that a key implication from this could be that if the Mashantucket tribe truly demonstrates that it is taking every possible step to honour its debt service obligations and they maintain strong corporate governance standards, it could set a very good example for other tribes and increase the legitimacy of lending to the Native American sector in general.”
NYTs: States Face Drop in Casino Revenues
CINCINNATI — Casinos and lotteries in most states are reporting a downturn in revenue for the first time, resulting in a drop in the money collected by state and local governments, according to new state data.
The decline comes as states are rapidly expanding gambling in hopes of stemming severe budget shortfalls, and it indicates that gambling is not insulated from broader economic forces like recessions, as has been argued in the past.
The drop has led some gambling experts to wonder whether the industry is reaching market saturation, whereby a limited number of gamblers with a fixed amount of money to bet is being split across a growing number of gambling options.
States that have been invested in gambling the longest have been hit hardest. Illinois reported a $166 million drop in tax revenue in fiscal year 2009, from 2008; Nevada had a $122 million drop, and New Jersey $62 million.
Yakama Gaming Per Capita Notice of Violation from NIGC
Here is the NOV, signed September 1, 2009.
The news article detailing the alleged violation, a $20M payment to tribal members called by the Nation an economic stimulus payment.
Foxwoods Settles $2.9 Million Personal Injury Claim
From ICT:
LEDYARD, Conn. – A Massachusetts man who lost his leg in an accident at Foxwoods Resort Casino in 2006 received a $2.9 million award in what may be the largest personal injury claim ever negotiated in a tribal court.
Richard Murch, 69, of Tewksbury, Mass., and the Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprise agreed to settle the claim minutes before a trial was to begin in Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court in early August.
MPGE is the business arm of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns Foxwoods Resort Casino in southeastern Connecticut. Tribal officials said it was their largest settlement.
New London attorney M. John Strafaci, who represented Murch, said it may be the largest settlement in any tribal court.
Sales Taxes at Indian Casinos
The 1 percent sales tax at Foxwoods apparently has the attention of the Connecticut AG for some reason (Indianz report here). The concerns seem to be based in the accounting of the tax, and really just a way for this troubling AG (Blumenthal) to get in the papers.
But tribal sales taxes at Indian casinos imposed on the largely non-Indian customer base is an important and real expression of tribal sovereignty. But largely because of numerous Supreme Court decisions like Wagnon, Cotton Petroleum, and Moe, the states get most of the money from the on-reservation tribal tax base. Moe says tribes have to collect sales taxes from non-Indians purchasing tobacco products in Indian Country. Cotton Petroleum says that tribal taxes don’t preempt states taxes imposed on non-Indians doing business in Indian Country, allowing state taxes to economically trump tribal taxes. As does Wagnon.
The one percent tax added on to the state sales tax at Foxwoods is an economic representation of the tribal tax base in stark forms. The state gets 6 percent of tribal sales, and the tribe (if its lucky) can tack on an additional 1 percent. What does the state have to do for this money? Absolutely nothing. They already get 25 percent of the net win in Connecticut. Because of these very unfair Supreme Court decisions, AG Blumenthal can wax politic about sales taxes that are pure windfalls to his state.
Turtle Talk 
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