And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: "Victor Rocha" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: U.S. says 'no deal' to Potawatomi's $6 million city-county payment Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 23:56:07 -0700 U.S. says 'no deal' to Potawatomi's $6 million city-county payment Even so, expansion will go ahead, and tribe insists it will pay up By Cary Spivak and Dan Bice of the Journal Sentinel staff May 18, 1999 In a move that surprised local and Forest County Potawatomi officials, the federal government rejected the agreement under which the tribe promised to pay the city and county more than $6 million annually in return for their support of an expanded Milwaukee casino. The decision does not jeopardize the expansion project, but it does raise questions about whether the Potawatomi are legally bound to make the payments. The tribe, however, immediately vowed to voluntarily abide by the agreement. "The contract is not enforceable," tribal spokesman Tom Krajewski admitted Monday. But, he repeatedly said, the tribe would make good on its agreement to pay $3.38 million annually to the city and $3.25 million to the county. The payments were promised in exchange for local support to add 800 slot machines and 25 blackjack tables to the tribe's Menomonee Valley casino. "We will keep our word," tribal Chairman Phil Shopodock said in a statement. Word of the rejection came late Friday. A tribal lobbyist, Martin Schreiber, called Mayor John Norquist at home that evening and said the payments would continue. Norquist, a vehement opponent to the casino expansion, declined comment Monday. Even if the Potawatomi and local officials work things out -- as officials on both sides say they will -- the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision could have a far-reaching impact on several tribes hoping to expand their gambling operations away from their remote reservations. Those tribes are waving wads of cash in hopes of garnering community support to open off-reservation casinos in Kenosha, Waukesha and Hudson. In a letter to a Potawatomi lawyer, BIA Director Kevin Gover said the Milwaukee payment plan was impermissible because the local governments were essentially taxing the tribe in exchange for their casino support. Because tribes are sovereign governments, they cannot be taxed. They are free, however, to pay for services such as police and fire protection or to buy the exclusive right to offer slot machines within a state's borders. But the Potawatomi's payments to the city and county would be about 10 times greater than the estimated costs of government services required by an enlarged Potawatomi Bingo Casino. "This demonstrates that the agreed-upon payments to the City and County are not in consideration of services," Gover wrote, "but are instead a quid pro quo in exchange for the agreement of the City and County to allow an expansion of gaming. "As such, the payments constitute a tax, fee, charge or assessment." Council President John Kalwitz acknowledged that the money played an important role in encouraging council support for the casino. "Obviously, that was a condition for the approval," Kalwitz said. "Not unlike what is happening in other areas of the country." But, he said, local leaders "were mindful of the fact that you can't gouge an Indian tribe." The federal ruling comes more than two months after the Common Council narrowly overrode the mayor's veto of the tribe's $119 million expansion. County officials had earlier signed off on the deal. Tribal officials have estimated that the Potawatomi casino will double its revenue, to $200 million a year, with the expansion already under way. In Kenosha, where the Menominee hope to open a $200 million casino at Dairyland Greyhound Park, the tribe is negotiating a deal that could pay local governments up to $20 million annually, said Apesanahkwat, the tribe's chairman. "We're doing it in return for services, sewer and water and police," Apesanahkwat said. "We're getting all sorts of stuff." As for the Potawatomi troubles, Apesanahkwat quipped, "When you're rushing to override a veto and you just do things off the cuff, these things happen." Nick Arnold, Kenosha city administrator, said local government support there is, in large part, contingent on working out a payment plan. In Hudson, the Four Feathers casino group is wooing local officials with promises of about $7 million in payments annually if the troubled Hudson dog track is turned into an Indian casino. This would be in addition to the $1.15 million that would be paid for local services. Gov. Tommy Thompson, who must approve any off-reservation casino plan, has said he would not do so unless there were a demonstration of local support. While Milwaukee and Potawatomi officials say they were surprised by the BIA rejection, they were optimistic that the questions could be resolved easily and quickly. "I'm not worried that the revenue stream will be interrupted," Kalwitz said. Pat McDonnell, an assistant city attorney, said he hoped to talk to BIA officials to get further clarification on the decision, which he called "confusing." He said it was unclear whether the matter would have to go back to the Common Council. McDonnell noted that the agreement with the Potawatomi contains a provision under which the tribe is to make $6 million in "voluntary" donations to local governments or charities if federal authorities overturn the deal. He said lawyers structured the overall local agreement along the lines of the state deal reached with the Potawatomi late last year and approved by federal officials shortly thereafter. McDonnell said he didn't understand why the state deal was approved but the local one was not. One key difference, however, is that the state in its compact agreements is selling Wisconsin's 11 tribes the exclusive right to run legal casinos. Local governments do not have that authority. Still, Mark Bugher, Thompson's top deputy who negotiated the compacts, said the objections are not insurmountable. "What we're going through here in Wisconsin is a bit of a new frontier," he said. "A whole bunch of new ground is being plowed here." Cary Spivak and Dan Bice can be contacted by phone at 223-5468 or e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
