The city of Porterville, California, may be forced to return $215,000 in gaming funds.
The Tule River Tribe shares gaming revenues with the state. The Tulare County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee determines how to distribute the funds, with 60 percent going to communities with a geographic nexus to the Eagle Mountain Casino and 40 percent going elsewhere. Porterville has been receiving money from the 60 percent pot when it should have been coming from the 40 percent discretionary pile. That means the city will have to fight for a smaller share of funds in the future. The tribe has shared $3.2 million through the committee over the last nine years, The Porterville Recorder reported. Of that amount, Porterville received more than $1.1 million, the paper said. Get the Story: