{"id":147890,"date":"2020-09-08T11:17:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T18:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=147890"},"modified":"2020-09-16T08:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T15:39:07","slug":"former-pamunkey-indian-chief-slams-tribes-casino-efforts-in-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-pamunkey-indian-chief-slams-tribes-casino-efforts-in-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Pamunkey Chief Slams Tribe’s Virginia Casino Push, Claims Billionaire Using Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
UPDATE<\/strong>: Our original article on the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and its former chief has garnered a strong response from tribal members, the community, and other Native Americans. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe released the following statement to Casino.org:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The Tribe has not publicly (outside of the Tribe) disclosed why Mr. Kevin Brown was disciplined by Tribal\u00a0<\/span>Body<\/span>\u00a0and was forced to step down as Chief. They will continue to keep tribal matters internal to the Tribe. It’s unfortunate to see the comments devolve into hearsay, rumors and more inaccurate information.<\/span><\/p>\n Norfolk and the Pamunkey Tribe first started talking about a resort and casino more than two years ago. Together, we identified a suitable piece of property and began to negotiate a purchase price for the property and an intergovernmental agreement. The Tribe agreed to pay full market value (approximately $10 million) for the land. A tribal casino is exempt from state and local property taxes, however, a Tribe pursuing tribal gaming typically enters into an agreement for services from the locality — fire and rescue, police, water, sewer, etc. The City and Tribe had agreed that the Tribe would pay 4 percent of the net gaming revenue (with a minimum payment of $3 million\/year) to Norfolk. This was estimated to be approximately $33 million per year. That revenue would certainly exceed expected property taxes, lodging taxes, food and beverage taxes for a project of this size.<\/span><\/p>\n That relationship between the Tribe and\u00a0<\/span>Norfolk continued<\/span>\u00a0once the Virginia General Assembly legalized commercial gaming. At that point, the City and Tribe agreed to convert to a commercial casino (rather than tribal casino), and follow the regulations and tax structure established by the Virginia General Assembly in 2020. It is worth noting, that the new tax structure\u00a0<\/span>will<\/span>\u00a0have the Tribe pay more than $30 million to the City, with some projections estimated at more than $40 million per year, plus an\u00a0additional\u00a0$50 million per year for the Commonwealth of Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether as a tribal casino, or now as a commercial casino, this project represents the largest private economic development project ($500 million) in the City’s history and guarantees an annual revenue stream for the city — all that with NO local or state tax breaks, public subsidies or government funding. That<\/span>\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0why Norfolk is so committed to the Tribe and this project. Our development partner and team have considerable experience in both gaming and financing\/developing large-scale, high-end properties over the years. We hire top-tier management and intend to attract talented people to make this a world-class resort and casino.<\/span><\/p>\n Original Story Below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Kevin Brown, the former chief of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in Virginia, says the Native American group’s efforts to venture into commercial gambling are misguided.<\/p>\n
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