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Hallandale
Beach
Seeking Fair Treatment
City officials want to give pari-mutuels the same benefits as
Indian reservation casinos
By Nicole Alibayof
The city of
Hallandale
Beach is trying to level the playing field between the
pari-mutuels and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
The commission and two pari-mutuel owners are waiting for the
verdict in a lawsuit between Gov. Charlie Crist and House
Speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio sued Crist on the grounds that the
governor could not sign a compact with the Indian tribe without
consent of the Legislature.
“The compact affects everyone adversely,” said Mayor Mary Cooper of
Hallandale
Beach.
“Hopefully we’ll get the same games and hours of operation,” said
Dan Adkins, a partner at Hartman & Tyner, which owns of Mardi
Gras Casino.
Broward
County is home to four of the seven pari-mutuels in the state.
However, those four businesses are failing financially, in part
because the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which owns the Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, has an advantage over them.
In 2004, Adkins and other pari-mutuel owners petitioned for a
special election that would allow slot machines in racetracks
and jai-alai frontons in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Broward voters passed the initiative a year later. Miami-Dade
voters, thanks to a last-minute media push by then-Gov. Jeb
Bush, who opposed slot machines, rejected it. (Miami-Dade voters
will be asked again on Jan. 29.)
But the slot machines in pari-mutuels were given tax rates between
62 and 65 percent. Casinos operating on Indian reservations,
including the Seminole Hard Rock, do not pay taxes.
“No business could survive that,” Sen. Steve Geller said. “[Bush]
gave the pari-mutuels such restrictions and high tax rates,
making it almost impossible for them to make money.”
Under federal law, Indian reservations are entitled to slot
machines. The Indian Gambling Regulatory Act states that
reservations cannot be forced to pay a percentage of gambling
revenue to which they’re legally entitled.
According to the law, states and reservations may enter into
taxation agreements. So Crist made a compact with the
reservations, allowing them to offer roulette and such card
games as blackjack. If the agreement goes into effect, it will
put the pari-mutuels at an even bigger disadvantage, Adkins
said.
Governors in five other states have signed similar agreements
without the consent of their respective legislatures and were
sued. In each case, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of
the legislature.
Geller believes Crist will lose his case since there are
anti-gambling officials in the Florida Legislature who do not
want to give the reservations additional gambling.
Commissioner Keith London of
Hallandale Beach said gambling is just something else to
entertain people and will not be a detriment to the tourism
economy, as some opponents claim. “We are not a destination for
gambling; we are not Vegas,”
London
said.
There are seven casinos operating on Florida Indian reservations.
If they acquire additional gaming rights, the tribe guarantees
to pay $100 million in the next four to five years.
Geller supports additional gambling for the reservations, but
believes pari-mutuels should have the same rights. His argument
is that with reasonable tax rates and additional gaming, the
pari-mutuels could potentially bring in $350 million in taxes.
“We are going into the biggest budget crisis in the history of
Florida,” Geller said. “Why would I want to put seven
pari-mutuels at $350 million out of business to get $100 million
from the Indians?”
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