That also means legislators who have voted in the House and those who will vote in the Senate have NOT reviewed it.
A spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development said the state just received the land-in-trust application and is still reviewing it.
Projected annual casino revenue set at $511.8M
George Brennan
gbrennan@capecodonline.com
July 24, 2012
MASHPEE — As the Senate considers a tribal-state gaming compact today, an environmental report says that a Mashpee Wampanoag casino would generate $511.8 million per year in overall revenue.
The estimate is included in an Environmental Notification Form, prepared by Epsilon, a consultant conducting the environmental review of the Taunton project for the tribe.
That figure includes all revenue, not just casino money, a tribe source confirmed. It is also based on the five-year build-out of the $500 million casino, hotel and water park complex.
The project is also expected to generate an estimated $836.5 million in total economic benefit for the state during construction, according to the report, although, again, the revenues are not broken down.
Under the terms of the compact under consideration by the Senate, the state would receive 21.5 percent of the gross gambling revenue from the casino. How much of the $511.8 million per year would come from gambling is not specified in the report and has not been made public.
The House approved the compact last week.
[WITHOUT REVIEWING THE LIT APPLICATION!]
The tribe still faces federal hurdles in getting land in Taunton taken into federal trust for a casino, a requirement of federal Indian casino laws. It seeks 170 acres in Mashpee for specific government and housing uses and 146 acres in Taunton for a casino. The application is for an "initial reservation" for the tribe, which gained federal recognition in 2007.
In a copy of the land-into-trust application obtained Monday by the Times, several key aspects are missing including the tribe's business plan and an expert report on the tribe's historic links to Taunton. The application has a placeholder that states "to be submitted."
Also missing is how the tribe will clear its most significant hurdle — overcoming a 2009 Supreme Court ruling known as the "Carcieri decision" that called into question the ability to take land in trust for tribes recognized after 1934. The tribe's "Carcieri report," which will outline why the tribe believes the ruling does not apply, also is listed as "to be submitted."
The Indian casino law requires a gambling facility to be within 50 miles of a tribe's home base. A Google map provided in the application to show Mashpee's distance from Taunton charts it over Buzzards Bay at 35 miles. The drive to Taunton from tribal headquarters in Mashpee is 45 miles, according to an online search.
Though an expert report is not yet included in the application, the tribe does give some hint as to how it will make historic and modern ties to the city. "Taunton is located in modern-day Southeastern Massachusetts — an area indisputably within the tribe's aboriginal territory and to which the tribe has strong historical ties," the application states.
The application also points out that 1,584 of the tribe's 2,600 members live within 50 miles of Taunton. "Under current economic conditions, that distance is well within the range that many tribal members commute to secure employment," the application states.
A spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development said the state just received the land-in-trust application and is still reviewing it.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120724/NEWS/207240316&cid=sitesearch
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