| Over the last couple of
years, the state of Michigan has missed out on a major opportunity
to capitalize on Indian casinos. Due to an agreement in the
state-tribal compact permitting seven tribes to cease payments once
they had forfeited the monopoly on slot machines in the state,
Michigan has lost more than $300 million in revenues.
By the time the compact expires in seven
years, the state will miss out on double the amount they already
have.
The original agreement between the state and
the tribal casino operators in 1993 required the tribes to pay 8
percent of their slot machine revenues to the state. However, that
was only so along as the tribes held the Michigan slot machine
monopoly.
By the end of the 1990s, the tribes had
officially lost that monopoly. If the tribes had continued payment
from that moment through to the end of 2005, the state of Michigan
would have collected approximately $337 million in casino slots
revenue.
The executive director of the Michigan Gaming
Control Board, Dan Gustafson, did not attempt a denial of the
agency’s history of poor execution. His excuse for such a lacking
track record is the insufficient funds and staffing of federal
officials.
Gustafson protests, “Given the authority that
we have and the resources that we have, we’re doing the best job
we’ve done since the casino opened.”
The tribes reject the necessity of outside
oversight and defend their meticulous supervision of themselves.
Steven Morello, the one time Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe of Chippewa Indians general counsel, defended the nation's
tribal casinos. “Take a look at Indian gaming across the country –
you rarely hear a story about fraud or corruption or mob influence,”
he declares.
It is no surprise to Kathryn Tierney that
tribal gaming is always on the up and up. The Bay Mills Indian
Community lawyer says, “there is every incentive” for tribes to
operate honorable, open casinos that meet state obligations and take
care of their customers.
“The revenue generated by gaming is the
tribe’s revenue,” continued Tierney, “You are protecting a tribal
asset.”
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