The Pojoaque Tribe has given up its years long battle to avoid signing the same tribal state gaming compact with New Mexico’s Governor Susana Martinez as the state’s other gaming tribes. The tribe operates the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino near Santa Fe along and the Cities of Gold Casino.
That means the tribe will pay a larger share of its gaming revenue to the state than it wanted to, which accounts for millions of dollars. The state has estimated that it will collect $6 million annually from the tribe under the compact.
The tribe had argued that although seven other tribes were willing to pay up 10.75 percent of “net win”—instead of the old rate of 8 percent—that its sovereignty meant it shouldn’t be strong-armed into an agreement. It also asserted that Governor Martinez had failed to negotiate in good faith.
Working against the tribe was the fact that its compact expired in June 2015, so it was working without a compact, and the state was eventually able to win an appeals court decision that required the tribe to negotiate with the governor, rather than with the Department of Interior, which it would have preferred. A follow-up ruling by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant a stay to its earlier April decision. This forced the tribe to deal with the state since federal law forbids a tribe from operating a Class III casino without a compact.
Besides the issue of how much the tribe paid the state, the tribe also wanted to lower the gambling age from 21 to 18 and lift the state’s ban on serving alcohol.
The tribe had hinted that it might try to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but then decided that this would strain its resources, according to Pueblo Governor Joseph Talachy. In addition, the state had begun pressuring the casino vendors who sell to the tribe, threatening them with regulatory action for dealing with a tribe that was operating illegally.
Now the tribe expects that its revenues will be significantly hit. Talachy said, “Gaming has flattened out in New Mexico. It’s not increasing. How do you justify increasing taxes?”
Under an agreement with then U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez, who agreed not to prosecute the tribe for operating without a compact while it appealed its case, the tribe operated for a time under the terms of its old compact. It put the difference between the two rates in an escrow account. It is unclear whether the tribe will have to pay those funds to the state. Under a new U.S. Attorney, however, the tribe was given 30 days to finalize a compact with the state. The new compact expires in 2037.
Underscoring his dissatisfaction with being forced to sign a compact he didn’t like, Talachy accused the state of trying to make the tribe pay for the state’s poor fiscal policies. “It’s sad they’re trying to subsidize their faults on the backs of the tribes,” he said.
