The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), an independent federal regulatory agency, last week published in the Federal Register the preliminary annual fee rate for Indian gaming operations.
“We are pleased that through strong management, reduced operating costs associated with our building move and footprint, and a solid working relationship with tribal regulators, we have, for the second consecutive year, been able to reduce the fee rate,” said Acting Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri. “Two of our primary objectives have, and will continue to be, efficiency and effectiveness, which ultimately result in savings and good stewardship of the tribal fees that make up the Agency’s funding.”
Effective March 1, 2015, the annual fee rate for Indian gaming operations will be:
0.0 percent for tier 1 operations
0.065 percent for tier 2 operations
0.0325 percent of Class II revenues for self-regulating tribes under 25 CFR part 518
The tier 2 fee rate decreased one-half cent from the 2014 rate. The NIGC is funded through fees collected from gaming operations under its jurisdiction. The agency bases fees on a percentage of assessable gross gaming revenues.
The NIGC also adopted its fingerprint processing fees of $21 per card effective March 1, 2015. The commission annually reviews the cost of processing fingerprint cards and set a fee based on the amount charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and costs incurred by the commission for processing.
