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PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Moving to assuage critics of a proposed casino, the Narragansett Indian Tribe on Tuesday released what it called a summary of its financial agreement with Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment to build a casino in West Warwick.
The two-page document represents the tribe's most detailed disclosure of the deal to date, although critics said it leaves key questions unanswered. Barring legal challenges, Rhode Islanders will vote in November on whether they want to amend the state constitution to allow the tribe to build a casino.
The tribe and Harrah's refuse to release the full contract, and Jack Killoy, a tribe attorney, said there were no immediate plans to disclose it because it contains proprietary information. Agreements Harrah's has with tribes in other states run more than 60 pages.
According to the summary, the Narragansetts' tribal government will receive 5 percent of the casino's adjusted gross revenue. Killoy defined adjusted gross revenue as the casino's gambling and non-gambling income minus state gaming taxes and West Warwick local taxes.
If adjusted gross revenue exceeds $800 million in a year, the tribe could receive up to 5.5 percent, Killoy said.
"This model provided the most benefit to the tribe in the earliest years possible," Killoy said.
Killoy said the arrangement could provide the tribe with almost $20 million in the casino's third year of operation. By comparison, the Narragansetts received about $6.4 million in federal funding during 2003, according to the last available federal audit.
But several major variables could affect those calculations.
First, the revenue figures were based on projections calculated by analysts from Harrah's and the tribe, Killoy said. Those projections are no guarantee of how much business a casino would attract.
Taxes are another point of uncertainty. Lawmakers in the General Assembly haven't specified at what rate casino profits would be taxed. An early version of the constitutional amendment specified a tax rate of between 25 to 40 percent, but that language was eliminated before the final vote.
Town authorities in West Warwick are still negotiating a contract with the casino partnership that will specify local taxes and other payments.
The summary document's release didn't satisfy casino critics, including Gov. Don Carcieri. He and Attorney General Patrick Lynch asked the state Supreme Court this week to decide if the constitutional amendment is legal ahead of the November vote.
"Until we have that contract in the public view, we have no idea of how much of Rhode Islander's money is going to be sent to Las Vegas," said Jeff Neal, a Carcieri spokesman.
Tim Costa, spokesman for an anti-casino group called Save Our State, said voters have a right to know the terms of the agreement before going to the polls this fall.
"They're asking Rhode Islanders to do what no other state has done, which is to amend the constitution to give them an exclusive no-bid deal," Costa said. "In doing that, they ought to release the entire agreement."
Jon Romano, a spokesman for Harrah's, referred all questions to Killoy.
In addition to a slice of the casino's revenue stream, the Narragansetts would receive $600,000 upon groundbreaking for health and education funds followed by $75,000 annual payments to each of those funds afterward, according to the summary.
The annual payments could increase to $100,000 if the partnership's earnings before taxes and other expenses exceeds $125 million.
After 15 years, the tribe would have the option of buying the casino, although the two-page summary does not spell out the terms of that option.
The two-page summary also does not answer questions including how long the agreement lasts, how it defines certain key financial terms or what security arrangements the partnership would make.
Indian tribes in other states are allowed to build casinos on their reservations under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. In Rhode Island, the Narragansett tribe would need state approval to build a casino on its land in Charlestown.
Instead, the tribe is attempting to build a casino in West Warwick, which would be regulated by state law. To do that, the constitution would have to be amended because it prohibits anyone but the state from operating a casino.
Tribes authorized to run casinos under federal law must disclose their management contracts -- but without some of the financial data released Tuesday by the Narragansetts.
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