|
|
| |
| Wed, Dec. 3, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Beebe: Indian casino in Fort Smith would defy will of people Friday, Apr 20, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Creation of an Indian casino in Fort Smith would result in lost tax dollars for the state and would defy the will of the people, Gov. Mike Beebe said Thursday. Beebe said he has not officially advised the federal government of his opposition to the proposal by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees to open a casino in Fort Smith, but said he intends to do so. "What's on record is what was already (there) from the previous administration. That's the formal record there, but we'll make our views known," the governor said. The record Beebe referred to is a letter former Gov. Mike Huckabee sent to the U.S. Interior Department in September 2006 expressing his opposition to the tribe's plans. The tribe has petitioned the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for permission to open a casino on land north of the city's River Park. The tribe wants to build a $131 million hotel and casino, according to Fort Smith businessman Bennie Westphal, who sold the tribe 10 acres for the project. "There are a lot of ancillary problems that go with casino gambling, and certainly in this proposal I think it provides a whole lot of tax revenue loss because it's tax-free," Beebe said. Beebe also said Arkansas voters have rejected casino gambling. Ballot measures that would have allowed casino gambling in the state were defeated in 1996 and 2000. "The voters had an opportunity to pass that, and they soundly rejected it," Beebe said. The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 says a tribe can establish a gambling operation only if the governor of a state concurs with the Interior Department secretary in allowing the operation. However, a tribe can take a state to court over the issue, which could eventually be decided by a mediator. If the tribe were to open a casino, it would be limited under federal law to the same games offered elsewhere in the state. In November 2005, voters approved electronic "games of skill" at the racetracks at West Memphis and Hot Springs. Westphal said Thursday he believes support from the local community would weigh more heavily than the governor's opposition. A privately commissioned poll found that 71 percent of people in the community support a casino, he said. "I think it is preferable if the governor approves it, but I think if you have overwhelming support in the community, I don't see the governor's office standing in the way of it," he said. Westphal acknowledged that voters rejected casinos in statewide votes, but he said attitudes are different in Fort Smith. The city is on the state line with Oklahoma, where Indian casinos receive a large amount of business from Arkansans but contribute nothing to Arkansas' economy, he said. "The money's going one way," Westphal said. Though the casino would not be taxed, the tribe is willing to enter into a compact with state and local government to share a portion of its net profits, Westphal said. The tribe has tentatively suggested giving 7.5 percent of its profits to the state and another 7.5 percent to Fort Smith, he said. Westphal said the casino would create about 900 jobs directly and about 500 indirectly, through spin-off businesses; would attract an additional 200,000 visitors a year to Fort Smith; would generate $2.7 million a year in sales taxes through purchases in the community; and would have an overall economic impact of $50 million. Local opponents of the casino proposal claim a casino would be an economic drain rather than a boon. "It's a drain on the public coffers, just because of people spending their money in an effort to make something that doesn't pan out, and it certainly is a tax on the poor," said Lyndel Hobbs, a member of the anti-casino group Friends of Fort Smith. Hobbs said gambling causes social problems for which the government picks up the tab, negating any economic benefits. More than 2,500 people in the community have signed a petition opposing a casino, Hobbs said. He noted that Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark., have all spoken out against the casino proposal. Hobbs said Friends of Fort Smith is "very grateful" for Beebe's comments this week. Although the opinions of Baker, Pryor and Boozman are important, "I think the governor's is the most significant in terms of the law," he said. |
