The Duluth, Minnesota city council has twice tabled a resolution asking the state legislature to approve a proposed city-owned casino at the convention center. City Councilor Howie Hanson, the major promoter of the casino, said changes were being made to the original proposal, based on new information about the current litigation between the city and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The city has had to increase fees to replace some of the income lost when the tribe stopped paying the city a percentage of revenue from its Fond du Luth Casino last year, about million annually.
Earlier, Hanson said a city-owned casino could generate income to improve the city’s streets. “It would create hundreds of construction jobs. Instead of getting the 18 percent, the $6 million every year, we could be gaining upwards of $40-50 million a year as other city-owned casinos are launching,” Hanson said. However, he said the city also may consider other options, including development along the city’s waterfront.
Business owner Brian Daugherty agreed. In a letter to the city council, he wrote, “I think the balance to fix our city’s infrastructure is out of whack with the community’s ability to pay for it. It makes sense if you think about it to try to replace the money that was taken from the city in the same manner it was derived–a casino.”
City Councilor Sharla Gardner, however, stated Duluth officials should try to resolve the current litigation between the city and the Fond du Lac tribe.
“We’re not in a place I think where we can be moving forward on something like this. There are a lot of legal barriers, not the least regarding state law issues and exclusivity agreements and all of that and so I just think the timing on this would be really poor,” Gardner said.
