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Pokagon Tribe Stops Casino Payments to LSRB

On December 8th, 2007, the Pokagon Band of Pottawatomi Indians has stop giving the initial payment of Four Winds Casino facility profits to local governments because of concerns regarding the board overseeing the distribution of about $3 million annually.

Townships, school districts, Berrien County and other local government units were scheduled to receive payments this week for the first two months of the operations of the casino in the Township of New Buffalo, which opened its doors to the gaming public in August.

For the meantime, the Pokagon Band tribe put the cash in an escrow account which has an interest until the tribe and the state can find a common ground on the issue. The Local Revenue Sharing Board asked the Pokagon Tribe to release the cash from the escrow account immediately.

Tribal Chairman John Miller said that the tribe is concerned that the LSRB may not be following with the conditions. The gambling compact regulates gaming at the casino facility. Miller said that the Pokagon tribe are responsible for following with the gaming compact requirement to give 2% of net profit from electronic gambling and wants to ensure that everything is fixed before giving out the cash.

Miller said that because of the unwillingness of the LRSB to follow the agreement has led them to lose confidence on the capability of the board. The Pokagon Band is gravely concern that the permanent members of the board, the Berrien County and New Buffalo Township, made by-laws even before the LSRB was formed.

Miller said that the public notice was issued that only governments that approved the laws can be appointed to the 3rd seat and the criteria laid down for the gambling compact were not followed in picking the third member. The gaming compact states that the 3rd member of the board is picked by the first two members and represents the most affected party of the casino facility.

The New Buffalo Area Schools district was picked to become the third member of the board. The gaming compact requires the tribe to pay eight percent of their winnings from electronic gaming to the state and two percent to the LGU's (Local Government Units) that experience increase expenses as a result of the Four Winds Casino. The LRSB said that the tribe has done this unilaterally and without informing the board of their intent. The board said that after two years since their creation, they have managed to maintain their integrity.

 

Sunday, December 23 , 2007
Brian Letendre