People Against a Casino Town
News of Interest
Lincoln City comments on casino tribe property purchases

 
City releases comments on tribe properties
April 27, 2005
By BILL CHOY
The News Guard, Oregon

A nine-page letter written this month addressed the city of Lincoln City's concerns about the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and Chinook Winds Casino Resort properties going into trust. The letter stated the action would take vital tax revenues away from the city.

If the city and tribe cannot come up with a mutually beneficial agreement, the letter said, the city could oppose any trust transfers the tribe makes in the future.

The letter, written by recently retired city attorney Christopher Thomas on the city's behalf, and dated April 11, was a response for a request for the city's comments on the application of the tribe to transfer Chinook Winds Casino Resort land into trust. The request for comments was sent by Ronald Kortlever, superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Siletz office.

The Siletz tribe opened the casino in Lincoln City in 1995 and purchased the 247-room Shilo Inn property next door last June. Last week, the tribe announced it had purchased the Lakeside Golf Course, now called the Chinook Winds Golf Resort.

Casino officials said they plan to expand the 9-hole course into an 18-hole resort course, and they believe it will help bring more visitors to Lincoln City and the casino.

Delores Pigsley, chairwoman of the Siletz tribe, said the tribe has been working closely with the city on this issue to try to come up with something that's beneficial to both parties.

"We have been continually talking with them," she said. "I expect to sit down with them real soon and work out something."

City's opinion

In the letter, Thomas wrote that the extent of the impacts of casino resort property going into trust will "depend" on if both parties are successful in negotiating an agreement that resolves issues and is mutually acceptable.

"If the tribe and city can reach a mutually acceptable agreement, then the city, at a minimum, will not oppose the proposed Chinook Winds Casino Resort trust transfer," Thomas wrote. "However, if the tribe and city cannot reach a mutually acceptable agreement, in particular as to financial issues, then the city will have no choice but to oppose the transfer, due to the financial impacts of a transfer on the city as described in this letter."

The city anticipates that it will receive a tribe-drafted agreement in the near future.

Thomas wrote that the city is concerned about transient room tax revenues they could lose if the hotel property is taken into trust. The city has a voter-approved transient room tax of 8 percent.

The former Shilo property owned by the casino resort collected $421,038 in transient room tax revenue in 2003, approximately 18 percent of the city's total transient room tax revenues that year, the letter said.

The money was distributed to several facets of the town, such as $50,000 to public safety, and $100,000 each to the city's parks operating fund, the street operating fund, and the Lincoln City Visitor and Convention Bureau.

For the 2004-05 property tax year, which ends June 30, the city anticipates receiving a total of $49,104 in general fund revenues from the former Shilo Inn property, based on the city's property tax rate of $4.0996 per $1,000 of assessed value, as well as $4,868 from bond fund revenues to pay the capital costs of public infrastructure projects.

From four other tax lots owned by the resort and not in trust, the city expects a total of $106,990 of urban renewal fund revenue, based on the county-wide property tax rate of $15.4642, to fund urban renewal projects. Thomas expressed concern in the letter that losing all this tax money if the properties go into trust would have a "negative impact" on the city's urban renewal program.

The loss of these taxes in the long term would affect local community services that receive funds from property taxes such as schools, fire and police, the letter said.

The continuing impact of the property tax limitations, combined with cost increases experienced by the city, would result in expenditures exceeding revenue in the relatively near future, the letter said. This could result in either further cutbacks in city services or increases in non-property taxes.

With the purchase of the golf course and adjoining properties, the city expects that the tribe will ask to transfer this properties into trust as well. Thomas emphasized that there needs to be a tribe-city agreement with the trust transfers.

"This continuing process of fee-to-trust transfers, if not accompanied by a tribe-city agreement that will involve payments from the tribe to the city in recognition of the city's municipal services load, will have a severe negative impact on city government and therefore on the city's residents and businesses," he wrote.

Working things out

Pigsley said on Monday, while she had not yet read the April 11 letter, the tribe has received similar letters from the city on a number of occasions over the years, including when the casino and tribe purchased the Shilo Inn property last year.

Pigsley said from the beginning it has been a top priority for the tribe to work something out that will be beneficial to both parties. She mentioned the $170,000 the tribes pay the city per year under the city/tribe Chinook Winds agreement that shows the tribe is trying to work with the city. "We do pay our fair share," she said.  Pigsley said she believes the tribe has done its best to be accommodating and work with the city. She said while the process and the situation has been " frustrating" at times, she is hopeful they can work something out that both sides can be pleased with. "We're trying to be good neighbors," she said. Pigsley said she believes the casino has been a positive for the city, helping bring in additional businesses and visitors to the town.

In March, Pigsley was a part of a press conference at the casino addressing a report done by ECONorthwest, an economic consulting firm that was part of a study for the Oregon Gaming Alliance on the economic benefits of casinos throughout the state, including Chinook Winds. In 2003, the report said the casino generated an estimate of more than $4 million in state and local tax revenues generated in 2003. Also, the casino generated approximately $3 million in income for small-business owners and $2.9 million in various other types of income, including rents, royalties, and dividends, and employed approximately 751 full-and part-time workers and paid more than $25.3 million in wages and benefits.

Thomas wrote while the city "greatly appreciates" the willingness of the tribe to continue collection and turnover to the city on transient room taxes, there is concern about the long-term loss of property tax revenues.

"The loss of tax revenues over time becomes crippling, unless the tribe makes payments to the city to help ameliorate the effect of the lost tax revenues," Thomas wrote.

Thomas also wrote that while the city "appreciates the $170,000 the tribe gives to the city each year, it is far less than what would have been paid in property taxes if Chinook Winds were not tax exempt."

David Hawker, city manager for Lincoln City, would not comment on the letter, referring the city's comments back to the letter.

Last week, when the sale of the golf course was released publicly, Hawker said while the city supports the tribe's efforts, they still had concerns about the trust, and losing tax revenue from that.

"Certainly, we want the tribe to be successful," he said at the time. "Basically, the city supports the tribe's efforts, but we remain concerned about our loss of revenue from all their properties. Assuming that the golf course is taken into trust, we'll take a hit."

http://www.thenewsguard.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=2112

Related Links:
PACT   SEARCH   FACTS   LAWSUIT   LINKS   NEWS   RESEARCH   ACTION