The Gun Lake Tribe has announced its spring 2017 revenue sharing payments.
The State of Michigan received $3,744,951, and the local revenue sharing board received $1,872,475. GLIMI, an entity overseen by the state and the tribe’s economic development corporation, received $1,123,485.
The revenue sharing payments are distributed semi-annually under terms of the tribal-state gaming compact using figures calculated from electronic gaming revenues reported from October 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.
“Our team members at the casino deserve a lot of credit for their outstanding contributions to the strong results for this revenue sharing distribution,” said Scott Sprague, chairman of the Gun Lake Tribe. “The construction team is also recognized for their professionalism which allowed for seamless operations during the last year while the expansion was built.”
The Gun Lake Casino expansion opened to the public on May 3 and includes the all new Harvest Buffet and Stage 131 entertainment lounge. The expansion nearly doubled the size of the facility to add 500 more slot machines and a new air filtration system. A new high limit gaming room and bar will open later this year.
The tribe and the state executed a gaming compact in 2007 where the tribe agreed to share a percentage of electronic gaming revenues with the state and local governments. In July 2016, the tribe and state announced a partial settlement agreement to resolve an interpretation of the tribal-state gaming compact.
The agreement directs a portion of casino state revenue sharing payments to GLIMI, which is overseen by the state and the tribe’s economic development corporation, Gun Lake Investments.
GLIMI was formed to pursue non-gaming economic development and job creation. Noonday Market, a fuel and convenience store located next to the Casino, was the first such project. //
State revenue sharing payments depend on continued preservation of exclusive gaming rights within the tribe’s competitive market area, which includes statewide expansion of certain lottery games. The market area includes the cities of Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Lansing, and the entire counties of Kent, Kalamazoo and Ingham, among others.
Gun Lake Casino opened in February 2011 and now employs more than 1,000 team members.
The tribe has now shared $93,368,258 with state and local governments through 13 distributions.
The local revenue sharing board receives and administers the semi-annual payments to local municipalities for costs incurred due to the operation of the casino, public safety services and replacement of tax revenue. The local payments are made under terms of the gaming compact independent of gaming exclusivity.
