A California appeals court has revived a lawsuit that claims tribes with casinos owe more than $330 million to the state.

Under compacts signed in 1999, 28 tribes pay a percentage of their "net win" into a state fund. But Candace Cates, a former inspector for the state Gambling Control Commission, says tribes aren't contributing the correct amounts.

Her lawsuit says the state commission allows each tribe to define its own "net win." Cates claims the state is losing money as a result.

A judge dismissed the case but the Fourth District Court of Appeals revived it on September 6. The court said the commission has no way of knowing whether the tribes are contributing the right amount without a precise definition of "net win" [PDF: Ruling].

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Suit claiming tribes underpaid state is reinstated (The North County Times 9/12)