The casino side: the compact names South Bend and the State — not this town

L82-8 · Pokagon Band compact and Four Winds South Bend, read for any town side

The town’s side of the tribal-casino record is: none — and that none is documented, provision by provision. The ground first, at BOUNDARY size. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians’ roughly 166-acre South Bend site — bounded by Prairie Avenue (SR 23), U.S. 31 and Locust Road — was taken into trust on November 29, 2016 (the Interior Department letter in the compact file gives November 28, 2016, 81 Fed. Reg. 89499–89504, for the trust acquisition; the one-day variance between the Band’s presentation date and the Federal Register citation is printed, not merged). Four Winds South Bend opened January 16, 2018 as a Class II facility (electronic bingo-style gaming, no state compact required). Before any state compact, the Band’s money deal ran to the city: under the Local Agreement approved by South Bend Common Council Resolution 4554-16 (passed April 11–12, 2016), the Band agreed to pay the City of South Bend 2 percent of net win annually — half (1 percent) directly to the City’s General Fund, with a floor of $1 million a year at 850–1,699 games and $2 million above 1,700 games — plus more than $5 million over five years for community-development projects, including $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County named in the council file. The agreement’s hiring language gives preference to residents of St. Joseph County — a county-residence preference in which a New Carlisle resident could in principle share as a county resident, but which names no town, reserves nothing to the Town or to Olive Township, and pays the Town nothing.

The state compact leg is equally explicit about its parties. Indiana’s first tribal-state Class III compact was entered January 21, 2021, ratified as House Bill 1055 / Public Law 171-2021 (codified at Indiana Code 4-29.5), signed by Governor Eric J. Holcomb on April 29, 2021; the Interior Department let it take effect without approval or disapproval within the 45-day IGRA window (letter dated June 29, 2021); Class III (house-banked table games and true slots) rolled out August 5, 2021. Its revenue term, IC 4-29.5-17-2, runs to the State alone: “the Band shall make annual payments to the State of eight percent (8%) of the Net Win at its South Bend Site Class III Gaming Facility,” in exchange for exclusivity across a 16-county Exclusivity Area that includes St. Joseph County (with Elkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Miami, Noble, Porter, Pulaski, Starke, Wabash and Whitley). The Legislative Services Agency fiscal note (Apr. 6, 2021) confirms the 8 percent state share, net of a $1 million distribution to the Pokagon Indiana Education Fund, projects $5.0–$9.2 million in FY2023 and $8.6–$15.8 million in FY2024, sets a 20-year initial term with 10-year renewals, and requires semiannual reimbursement to the Indiana Gaming Commission of $50,000 or 0.05 percent of semiannual net win, whichever is greater. A conflict in the secondary record is printed whole: Casino.org’s April 21, 2021 report states the tribe “will share 10 percent of its slots revenue with the state and local government,” against the compact text’s 8 percent to the State. The codified compact controls as a source; the 10 percent figure stands unmerged beside it, unexplained — it may conflate the 8 percent state share with the separate 2 percent city payment under the 2016 Local Agreement (8 + 2 = 10), but that reconciliation is an inference and is labelled as one, not asserted as the record.

Read for the town, then, the whole apparatus — trust decision, Local Agreement, compact, fiscal note — names the Band, the City of South Bend and the State of Indiana. The words “New Carlisle” and “Olive Township” do not appear as a party, a payee or a provision in any of the compact or agreement material read for this section. The casino sits about fifteen miles east of the town; its jobs preference reaches county residents generally; its revenue runs to a city the town does not govern and to the state. That is the town’s side, at true size: adjacent, unprovided-for, and — on this record — unmentioned.

Sources:

1. City of South Bend, Bill 16-32 / Resolution 4554-16 file (docs.southbendin.gov) — Local Agreement: 2 percent of net win to the City, $1M/$2M floors, $5M+ community projects, St. Joseph County hiring preference; no town provision.
2. Indiana Code 4-29.5-17-2 (P.L. 171-2021) — 8 percent of Net Win payable to the State; exclusivity consideration.
3. Legislative Services Agency, Fiscal Impact Statement, HB 1055, Apr. 6, 2021 — 8 percent share net of $1M Pokagon Indiana Education Fund; FY2023–24 projections; 20-year term; IGC reimbursement.
4. U.S. Department of the Interior letter, June 29, 2021, with compact text (BIA file) — compact submitted May 5, 2021; South Bend Site defined as approx. 166 acres taken into trust Nov. 28, 2016, 81 Fed. Reg. 89499–89504. Date variance vs. Band presentation (Nov. 29, 2016) printed unmerged.
5. Pokagon Band presentation to the Budget Committee, Dec. 14, 2020 (in.gov) — trust Nov. 29, 2016; Four Winds South Bend opened Jan. 16, 2018, Class II; compact negotiations from Aug.–Sept. 2019.
6. World Casino Directory, Jan. 16, 2018 and Aug. 9, 2021 — Class II opening; Class III rollout Aug. 5, 2021 after the compact; Holcomb signing Apr. 29, 2021.
7. Casino.org, Apr. 21, 2021 — “10 percent … with the state and local government.” CONFLICTS with IC 4-29.5-17-2 (8 percent to the State); printed unmerged.