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Seminole Tribe Seeks Unneeded Tax Break for Casino Expansion
COCONUT CREEK, FLORIDA --
The laws governing tribal casinos were created to help an indigent people escape from possibly the worst poverty conditions in the United States. But some tribes have gone from abject surroundings to assured wealth for life, and the Department of the Interior may need to establish a point at which tax exemptions are no longer necessary.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida has generated such revenues from its casinos that every tribal member receives a check, income tax free, for $126,000 annually, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Casinos on reservation lands are neither taxed nor regulated by federal or state authorities.
Yet the Seminoles are planning another mammoth resort casino project, even bigger than the existing Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. And they are asking the Department of the Interior to grant the land involved into trust.
If conditions allow, the Seminoles would build a 1500-room, 24-story hotel, with surrounding restaurants and retail space, in sleepy Coconut Creek, a northwest suburb of Ft. Lauderdale. Local politicians are willing to work with the tribe on the project, but expect significant tax income for the social costs which would result from the casino's expansion.
As much as $9 million in municipal taxes would be due to Coconut Creek if the resort is built without the trust grant from the federal government, according to the Sun-Sentinel. This would cover some of the increased expense on police, fire, and other essential services which would be caused by the new complex.
Still, the tribe has appealed to the Department of the Interior to place all the land in question into trust, which would allow the tribe to build without regard to local codes, stay open past are aclosing times, and avoid all taxes. Maybe somebody in the government will hit the brakes on this plan, realizing that the Seminoles no longer desreve or need a tax break any more than any other giant casino developer.
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