The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe owns and operates the Saganing Eagles Landing Casino in Standish, Michigan. Photo from Facebook
The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan will be reducing its per capita payments due to declining gaming revenues. Chief Frank Cloutier discussed the issue at length during his State of the Tribe address on January 23. He's followed up with a letter that explains in detail the changes that tribal members will be seeing, The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun reported. According to the paper, the payments will gradually decrease starting in July. The non-graduated per capita payment for adults will come to $60,000 this year, down from $62,400, the paper said. “Although Tribal Council is committed to increasing gaming income, this takes time, may involve risk, and is not guaranteed,” Cloutier said in the letter, the paper reported. “We must act now to protect our immediate future and our children’s financial resources and future.” The changes come as the tribe embarks on an expansion of the Saganing Eagles Landing Casino. According to the February 2016 issue of The Tribal Observer, the facility will see a hotel with 148 rooms, a larger gaming floor, a restaurant and a bar/entertainment lounge. The cost of the project wasn't reported. Chief Cloutier's January 23 address was published in The Tribal Observer and excerpts regarding the per capita payments follow:
Per capita is one of the biggest challenges and one of the most urgent concerns before Council at this time. We have been working with Accounting and Treasury to find the most amicable way of dealing with the per capita short falls and how best to address them. If adjustments are not made, we will run out of future's money within the next two years, thus giving us no choice but to change our per capita distribution plan to a variable plan and begin distributing per capita dollars as they are available. If we decrease the amount paid to each member, we can extend the life of the future's trust. This allows all of us more time to adjust to our new found realities that per capita will always be there as long as we remain pro table. It is our responsibility to ensure we take the necessary steps to remain pro table and sustainable. I assure you that once we have agreed on those changes, we will communicate directly with you and allow time before implementing those changes. You should know that many have discussed an adjustment as early as July 2016. We understand that many of you rely on those per capita payments and any adjustment will have a direct effect on you. ... Health benefits and cost to the Tribe continue to rise. What cost us $27 million in Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage for the membership this year, could cost us upwards of $47 million in the future. This expense is paid from the Gaming Trust. This trust was meant to support expansion of gaming for the future and today we use it to fund the Member Health coverage. We need to build in efficiencies and cost saving measures that will allow us to reduce this expense while still providing competitive coverage for each member who needs it.Get the Story:
Per capita payments to decrease for Saginaw Chippewa Tribal members (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 2/28)
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