The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of
Michigan will be reducing its per capita payments due to declining gaming revenues.
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: