"The Grand Traverse County board's decision to continue acting as a conduit for gambling revenue grants from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians may cause more work for the county.

But the compromise is also recognition that the aim of county government is to work for taxpayers — and if working for taxpayers means being the financial link between the tribe and local governments getting those grants, so be it.

Some state officials have said tribal gambling proceeds must go to local governments and can't be parceled out to nonprofits. If that ruling had stood, many groups that had gotten grants in the past or were applying for grants now, would have been shut out."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Common-sense approach to grants (The Traverse City Record-Eagle 7/6)