Recently, the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians or Gun Lake Tribe located in Shelbyville, announced details of its fall revenue sharing payment, which saw the tribe surpass $100 million in gaming revenues shared in the State of Michigan.
Last month saw the tribe share $8.2 million in gaming revenues with local and state governments; with $4,731,126 going to the State of Michigan, $2,117,954 to the local revenue sharing board and $1,419,338 going to Gun Lake Investments (GLIMI), the Tribe’s economic development corporation. GLIMI was reportedly created by the Tribe to pursue job creation and non-gaming economic development.
Based on electronic gaming revenues from the tribe’s Gun Lake Casino, the fall payment, which is calculated from April 1 to September 30, brings the total amount shared since 2011 to $101.6 million.
According to the press release, the $8.2 million fall payment represents a staggering 24 percent increase from the Gun Lake Tribe’s spring payment and a 19 percent hike from its 2016 fall payment.
The tribe reportedly attributed the gains to the $76 million expansion of its Gun Lake Casino that broke ground in January 2016 and opened on May 3 this year, which according to the press release, was one month into the six-month revenue sharing distribution period. The major expansion nearly doubled the size of the facility and included the addition of 73,000 square feet of gaming, a new VIP gaming room and an extra 600 slot machines.
Chairman Scott Sprague said, “This is a very special distribution because of the significant increase in revenues due to the expansion, and because we have surpassed the $100 million milestone.”
“The tribe’s reinvestment of $76 million into the casino expansion has paid off for tribal citizens, our team members and the community,” said Sprague.
The announcement by the tribe comes just three weeks after arguments were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on November 7, 2017 in Patchak v. Zinke. The long-running case involves a lawsuit filed by David Patchak challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior’s decision to place in trust a land grant known as the Bradley Property for the tribe. The pending lawsuit was promptly dismissed by a federal court in accordance with provisions of the Gun Lake Act.
The dismissal was appealed by Patchak and is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Having opened its doors in February 2011, Gun Lake Casino now employs upwards of 1,000 team members and has shared $101,636,676 with local and state governments spanning 14 distributions.?