Opinion: Say no to gaming deal for Seminole Tribe

Monday, November 16, 2009  

"Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater are right about the governor's proposed Seminole gaming compact. It's a bad deal for Florida.

The compact is intended to enhance state revenues with annual tribal payments, but it creates a de facto monopoly that will stifle competition in the gaming market in Florida.

Gov. Crist's stated intention is to increase revenue for Florida's educational system. But the compact actually weakens this goal by foreclosing potential additional revenue from non-tribal facilities and granting the tribe several "outs" on their payment obligations.

Essentially, the compact grants the tribe statewide Class III gaming exclusivity, except for existing pari-mutuels, specifically the seven Miami-Dade and Broward County pari-mutuel gaming venues (including Hialeah Park). Under the proposal, if any pari-mutuel located outside of Broward and Miami-Dade is granted additional gaming rights, the tribe's annual calculated financial obligation to the state is fully removed. Further, a back-door provision prohibits pari-mutuels from transferring or moving their gaming operations. In contrast, the tribe has full rights to move and expand within its jurisdictional reservation under the proposed compact.

While an approved compact would automatically lower the onerous 50 percent gaming tax rate to 35 percent — compared to the 100 percent exemption on tribe receipts — the compact further favors the tribe by calculating financial obligation for the tribe and the pari-mutuels using different formulas. The tribe's financial obligation, calculated as a sliding scale percentage of its net win, is significantly less than the rate imposed on pari-mutuels. Furthermore, the tribe does not pay sales, tourist or property taxes, so its overall tax rate remains much lower than non-tribal facilities."

Get the Story:
Alan B. Koslow: Seminole compact deals Florida a bad hand (The South Florida Sun-Sentinel 11/15)