Casino news source: Gulf Live - http://www.gulflive.com
Casino pitch
Friday, September 28, 2007
By VETO F. ROLEY
PASCAGOULA -- The leader of the Mississippi Band of Choctaws told the Jackson County Board of Supervisors that the tribe is willing to pay a four-percent impact fee to affected local governments if it opens a casino in the county.
Choctaw Chief Beasley Denson said the impact fee would generate between $7 million and $7.5 million for Jackson County in each of the first five years the casino is in operation. Denson said the fee is equal to local taxes paid by casinos in Harrison and Hancock counties.
The Choctaw tribe proposed almost two years ago building a casino and resort on 100 acres of land it owns on Miss. 57 near Interstate 10. The proposal includes an 1,100-room hotel, theater, fitness center, 400-seat buffet and a casino with more than 2,300 slot machines.
However, Stan Flint, a consultant with Gulf Coast Businesses for Fair Play, said the proposed impact fee has already been struck down by federal courts.
"It's a payment in lieu of taxes," Flint said. "The tribe cannot offer a percentage of its gross or net income."
Flint said the only payments the tribe can make to local governments are for actual infrastructure costs.
Supervisors questioned whether the tribe could negotiate with the county, as the county is a political subdivision of the state.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has to approve the tribe's application before it can open a casino in Jackson County. If the application is approved, the tribe has to negotiate a compact with the state's governor to open the casino. The compact lays out the fees the tribe will have to pay to local and state governments for infrastructure.
Tim Broussard, president of the Board of Supervisors, asked Denson if the Mississippi Band of Choctaws can negotiate directly with the county or if the county has to go through the state. Supervisor Frank Leach asked if the county has to wait until the governor negotiates a compact with the Choctaws for the impact fee to be binding.
"At some point, do we have to get with the Bureau of Indian Affairs or with the governor's office and say, This is what we want,'?" asked Supervisor John McKay.
Choctaw attorney Lenor Scheffler said the Choctaws viewed Jackson County and Mississippi as "separate, individual governments."
"The Mississippi Choctaws, within their sovereign power, will make a decision who to enter agreements with," Scheffler said.
However, she said it is too early to decide how the impact fee will be negotiated into the final settlement. Scheffler said the tribe is waiting for results from environmental testing on the property, which are due in December. Scheffler said the casino has yet to be approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"We still have a lot of hurdles to get through," Scheffler said.
Once the casino is approved by Indian Affairs, she said the tribe can start looking at how to arrange the impact fees to local governments.
In addition to the impact fee, Choctaw attorney Don Kilgore told supervisors the Choctaw casino would be an economic engine for Jackson County.
He said the casino will create 2,800 jobs with a payroll of $71 million, or approximately $25,000 per job. He said the casino will generate another 4,230 indirect jobs in the county with a payroll of $110 million, or approximately $26,000 per job.
Kilgore said the casino's location along Miss. 57 will increase property values along the highway in the county and in Gautier because businesses will want to locate near the resort.
Over five years, he said the increased taxes from direct and indirect payroll, property taxes and the impact fee will generate about $40.59 million.
Denson said after the meeting that he is looking forward to presenting the Choctaws' case to Jackson County voters before the Nov. 6 general election. On the ballot is a non-binding referendum asking voters if they support plans to build the casino.
When asked if he would seek another referendum down the road if Jackson County voters rejected the Choctaws' plans Nov. 6, Denson smiled and said he is focused on winning the referendum on the ballot.
"Ask me after that," he said.
Scheffler said the Choctaws have invested about $12 million in First American Printing Co., located on the property in Jackson County, which employees about 100 people. She told supervisors that the tribe has not seen a return on its investment from the property.
Denson said the tribe is looking at options for the property if the casino falls through.
"It's a valuable piece of property," he said, adding that the tribe will get a return off its investment.
However, he would not say what the plans are for the property if the tribe fails to win approval for a casino.
Kilgore, though, noted that the tribe does not need federal or state approval to develop the property commercially.
He dismissed the idea that businesses on the property would put other businesses at a competitive disadvantage because of sales taxes. He said Choctaws charge a 7-percent sales tax on businesses on Choctaw property.
Reporter Veto F. Roley can be reached at vroley@themississippipress.com or (228) 934-1427. |
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
