New Mexico Business Journal: Putting gaming cash to use: New Mexico's 11 gaming tribes, while not ex

Is INDIAN GAMING THE "NEW BUFFALO," the panacea that will bring tribes a prosperity that they have never known? Well, not quite. Although there's little question that with the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, a number of the 184 tribes in the U.S. that operate casinos have found an economic development tool that actually works, much of Indian Country hasn't risen terribly far above the poverty level. But there are exceptions, and a number of them can be found in New Mexico.

Hard numbers, however, are difficult to find. The National Indian Gaming Assn. Estimates--there is no regular reporting of income and expenditures--that revenues in 1999 were $9.6 billion, which represents less than 10 percent of the total U.S. gaming industry. Total employment was pegged at 200,000, of which about 25 percent was Native American.

A report prepared by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. says that for purposes of comparison, in 1995 the 109 Class III casinos generated about the same total amount of gaming revenues as the 12 Atlantic City casinos. "Of these 109 facilities," the report states, "eight accounted for almost half of the total revenues. This uneven distribution of revenues earned by individual casinos is similar to that of the industry in Nevada, where a handful of the 213 licensed casinos account for the bulk of the gambling revenues, and unlike that of the Atlantic City casinos, which are far more equal in their share of the local business."

A persistent myth that Indian tribes are growing rich from gaming revenues continues to have a stranglehold on the popular imagination. What Frank Chaves, Chairman of the New Mexico Gaming Association, said in his 1997 testimony before the state senate, still holds true: "Gaming revenues for the vast majority of tribes are not very great compared to the economic hole in which most tribes and Indian people find themselves. We have an enormous distance to go to reach sustainable economic development and growth than can bring our people out of poverty"

The New Mexico Indian Reservation Economic Study Group, a consortium of business, academic and public and private research organizations, has done its own number crunching and concludes that the 11 gaming tribes have had "significant economic and fiscal effects in the New Mexico state economy; in 1998, Indian gaming was the source of 11,265 jobs and $226 million in wage and salary income. The spending for goods and services attributable to Indian reservation casinos generated $64.7 million in state tax revenue...the overall finding is that state general fund expenditures attributable to the residents of Indian reservations totaled $90.88 million in 1998. (In 1999, according to the Denver-based Center for Applied Research, total gaming income amounted to $335.5 million.)

"In 1998, economic activity attributable to Indian reservations accounted for a total of 41,174 jobs statewide and generated $898.8 million in wage and salary income and $1.5 billion in personal income. Perhaps most significantly, Indian reservation-based economic activity resulted in a total of $168.5 million in state general fund revenue."

And these 1998 numbers do not reflect the new or greatly expanded casinos, such as those at Sandia and Isleta, that have opened in 2000 and 2001.

While the tribal economic landscape has been changing radically in the past couple of years, Indian tribes are still applying their new revenues for the basics: infrastructure development, educational scholarships, housing, medical care for the elderly, preservation and conservation of tribal lands, and charitable contributions. Here are some examples:

For some tribes, gaming has resulted in full or nearly full employment for its members (Pojoaque, San Felipe, Tesuque, for example); for others it is another arrow in their quiver of business enterprises. The Santa Ana Pueblo, which fronts Interstate 25 near Albuquerque, has been engaged in business activity well before the advent of gaming, and that resulted in numerous economic benefits to the tribe. In 1982, the tribal council organized Southern Sandoval Investments, LLC, that serves as the pueblo's economic development corporation. Under a 99-year lease between the tribe and SSI, four projects had been developed, including the glamorous Prairie Star restaurant, a mobile home park, a 27-hole championship golf course and the Santa Ana Star casino, currently undergoing a major expansion.

The reservation is also home to $80 million Hyatt Tamaya Resort, which is the state's first major destination resort and has become a magnet for new convention and meeting business.

Gaming revenues is making it possible for Santa Ana to begin restoring the habitat on and around its reservation, including the Bosque on the Rio Grande. "The pueblo would not have been able to do this project," says Todd Caplan, restoration program director for the pueblo, "without gaming revenue."

Similarly nearby Sandia Pueblo has improved water quality standards of the river. In fact, in 1997, the pueblo was the first tribal recipient of the Partnership for Environmental Excellence Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. Sandia is also active in supporting community events and organizations, including such groups as the Albuquerque TVI Foundation, American Red Cross, Childrens Hospital of New Mexico, the Hispanic Culture Foundation and Bernalillo Public Schools, among many others.

Sandia currently employs more than 1,300 people, 750 of which are employed by its casino. The plan is to increase casino employees to more than 1,500. In 1998, Sandia paid out more than $17 million in salaries and the casino alone spends more than $20 million a year for the purchase of goods and services. Construction of a wastewater treatment facility is under way and the pueblo has been master-planning the development of its southern border. It also plans to build a resort hotel and golf course near the casino. At the same time, it has created a scholarship program for its members that will provide full funding of college educations.

The Mescalero Apaches have long been known for their entrepreneurial endeavors. Its Inn of the Mountain Gods (now with a casino) was among the first luxury resorts in the state. It also operates Ski Apache, a lumber mill and a fish hatchery and recently created its own telephone company, Mescalero Apache Telecom, which now has more than 1,000 customers. The company has an $11 million building program to improve service. The tribe is also building a $33 million school that will house kindergarten through 12th grade and has space for more than 1,600 students. It also plans to build a $5 million elder care center that will include a 40-bed nursing home, a 20-bed assisted living complex and a kidney dialysis unit.

The Tesuque Pueblo is using its earnings from its Camel Rock Casino to renovate its historic plaza and to build a combination Head Start Center and elementary school. There is now virtually no unemployment among its 425 members; in the 1960s, unemployment hovered at 25 percent.

The mammoth Isleta Gaming Palace, one of the state's largest, is the principal economic engine for the Isleta Pueblo, although the pueblo has operated popular fishing areas for years and has had a commercial sand, gravel and cinder operation. The casino has provided hundreds of new jobs as well as revenue for tribal government operations, programs and special projects such as the development of the championship golf course, a convenience store, community fitness center and multipurpose complex.

Another example of an Indian tribe helping with economic development in its region is San Felipe Pueblo. Instead of building resort hotels and golf courses and competing with its neighbors in the Albuquerque-Bernalillo area, it is examining a another entertainment avenue that could have great promise for its local economy

The pueblo will open a 3/8-mile oval track to be called Hollywood Hills Speedway near its Hollywood Casino along 1-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe., according to Phil Davis, the casino's marketing director. It will serve as a multi-sport and entertainment stadium with a capacity for 10,000 spectators, complete with high-technology track construction and lighting, press box and media center, merchandising and concessions, and a large adjacent area for spectator parking. The completion date of the facility is expected to be March 2002.

Meanwhile, Casino Hollywood is undergoing it own construction program to double its present size while adding new games and a large indoor entertainment center. All of this, of course, means more jobs and a larger payroll.

The Acoma Pueblo operates a Tourism Center, which provides tours of historic Sky City and space for local craftspeople to sell world-known Acoma pottery and other arts and crafts as well as a casino on Interstate 40that generates revenues to supplement tribal governmental operations, programs, community needs and special projects. The Pueblo has added a new restaurant to the casino and is investigating the construction of a hotel/restaurant complex to complement the gaming facility

Although the Pojoaque Pueblo has a relatively small gaming operation it has provided new revenues that amount to 60 percent of the annual budget. Projects being funded include an expansion of the pueblo's law enforcement capabilities, including the addition of police officers and dispatchers and the acquisition of necessary support equipment; a major water and sewer project.; land acquisition to assist the Tribe in future economic development and diversification, and financial support for the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum, which will serve as a major attraction for visitors to the area, as well as a symbol of the pueblo's spiritual and cultural heritage. A tribal wellness and recreation center is under construction.

Most tribe assume that gaming will not necessarily last forever, which is precisely why most of them are rapidly expanding their economic bases with a health assist from gaming revenues.