The numbers behind the Seminole gambling deal

By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
© 2010 Miami Herald
Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Maybe three time's the charm.

After receiving the approval of the Seminole's tribal council late Monday, several members of the tribe arrived in Tallahassee today for an 11:30 press conference with Gov. Charlie Crist to sign the gambling compact. It will be the third time the tribe has signed an agreement with Crist, and the first time the legislative leadership has signed off on it before hand.

They will sign the compact agreed to late Friday. The proposal requires the tribe to pay a minimum of $1 billion over five years for the exclusive operation of black jack, chemin de fer and baccarat at their Broward, Immokalee and Tampa casinos and the continuation of Class III slots at all 7 of its casinos.

The payments to the state will be broken down this way: $150 million per year for years one and two, $233 million for years three and four and $234 million for year five.

However, because the agreement will require the tribe to pay 10 percent of its net revenue to the state over the last three years, internal projections done by legislative staff expects the payments to exceed the minimum -- by an estimated $102 million.

Add to that the $287 million that will be in the bank from the tribe -- because it has been sending the state $12.5 million a month since Crist signed the first failed compact in November 2007 -- and House and Senate negotiators, Rep. Bill Galvano and Sen. Dennis Jones say they can comfortably predict the state net $1.5 billion over five years.