Weighing Casino Cash vs. Problems
California lawmakers gave their blessing last week to a handful of new Indian gambling pacts that would give the state an infusion of cash -- $1 billion now, then up to 15% annually of the tribes' slot-machine take.
On the other side of the country, disgruntled residents of southeastern Connecticut, home to the world's biggest casino, offered words of caution: Tribal gambling money comes at a price.
Foxwoods casino, looming 19 stories above the New England foliage, pays the state of Connecticut a quarter of its annual revenue from 6,400 slot machines. Last year, Foxwoods and Connecticut's other sprawling Indian gambling palace, the nearby Mohegan Sun casino, together put nearly $400 million into the state pocketbook.
Yet to local officials like Nicholas Mullane, longtime leader of the nearby town of North Stonington, not nearly enough of that money flows back to the bucolic communities pummeled by casino traffic, crime and other problems.
"It's like plunking Dodger Stadium in a small town, and 24/7 people are going to the ballgame," he lamented. "We're overrun."
All over the nation, state governments are grappling with how best to offset the effects of the more than 350 tribal casinos that have sprouted since the federal government authorized states and tribes to negotiate gambling deals 16 years ago. Today, according to the National Indian Gaming Assn., tribal gambling is a $16-billion-a-year industry.
Federal law prohibits states from taxing tribes. And before they can hit the Native Americans up for some of their casino riches, states must offer something in exchange -- usually the exclusive rights to gambling for at least a portion of the state.
Just a third of the 22 states that have allowed Vegas-style slot machines on Indian land have won significant revenue-sharing agreements with tribes. And in some places, such as Connecticut, residents of areas affected by the presence of a big casino on their doorstep have been left irate.
Tribes with casinos are increasingly under the gun to share their wealth, mostly as a sizable percentage of profits from slot machines, the gambling world's cash cow. The push is not just from communities surrounding the casinos but from cash-strapped states -- like California -- eager to balance their budgets with the help of tribal gambling money.
- Casinos Bet on Bustamante and McClintock Sep 29, 2003
- Tribes Rap Gov.'s Call to Share Profit Jan 15, 2004
- Governor's Remarks Are Called Insensitive Oct 23, 2004
