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Gaming grants go out to seven groups |
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
Fire departments and hospital district among entities to benefit from casino’s presence in county
By Jon Klusmire
Register Staff
Inyo County communities hit the jackpot recently, thanks to the Paiute Palace Casino.
More than $191,000 in grants were awarded to local governments and fire departments last week by the Inyo County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee, according to county officials.
About $100,000 of the grant money was divided amongst the City of Bishop, Southern Inyo Hospital and local fire departments throughout the county, from Bishop to Olancha.
Inyo County was awarded $90,500 for its Grants-in-Supportprogram, which provides funds to about a half dozen nonprofit groups in the county. That grant is about $10,000 less than what the Grants-in-Support program received last year from the gaming grants.
This year’s Indian gaming grant total was lower by about $100,000 from last year’s grants, which totaled $288,000. During the first year of disbursements from the gaming grant fund, about $144,000 was awarded.
In the past three years the state-mandated gaming grant program has been in existence, the Indian Gaming Fund has provided about $625,000 to Inyo County governments and special districts, such as fire and hospital districts.
“It’s important for people to know the contributions that the casino makes to the community,” said Gloriana Bailey, chair of the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and general manager of the Paiute Palace Casino. The grants “are used to fund essential community services. Without the casino, local agencies would have to look elsewhere to find the money for these important projects and programs.”
For instance, the City of Bishop received $22,633 to upgrade its police communications center. “We really, really needed to make these repairs to the Police Department’s communications center,” said Police Chief Joe Pesci. “Thanks to the money from the Paiute Palace, we can do the upgrade, and the city council can use the money it would have otherwise had to spend on the project for another community service.”
The following are the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund grant recipients for 2006-07.
• The Inyo County Grants-in-Support program, $90,533, for annual grants to nonprofit organizations in the county.
• The Bishop Rural Fire Protection District, $37,721, to help fund its new Fire Suppression Training Facility outside of Bishop, which is currently under construction (grants from the Indian Gaming Fund over the past years have provided a total of $277,000 for the project).
• The City of Bishop, $22,633, to upgrade the Police Department communications center.
• The Big Pine Fire Protection District, $9,843, for new emergency communications equipment.
• The Lone Pine Fire Department, $9,843, for firefighting equipment.
• The Olancha-Cartago Fire Department, $9,843, to help finish paying for the “quick response” vehicle it purchased last year with Indian Gaming Fund grant money.
• The Southern Inyo Healthcare District (Southern Inyo Hospital), $8.191 for mobile x-ray equipment.
The grant guidelines give priority to government entities most impacted by the tribal gambling operation. Sixty percent of the grants are awarded to entities most impacted by the operation, which in this case includes the City of Bishop and Inyo County.
Twenty percent of the funding goes to special districts directly impacted by the tribal casino, such as the Bishop Rural Fire Protection District. Another 20 percent of the grant funds are earmarked for local jurisdictions impacted by tribes not paying into the gaming account, such as the Big Pine, Fort Independence, Lone Pine and Timbisha-Shoshone tribes.
Under the state law and Prop 1A, which legalized Indian gaming, only cities, counties and certain special districts are eligible for the grants. The state law also ensures a tribal casino such as the Paiute Palace pays a portion of its earnings into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. Based on the Gaming Fund’s formula, a total amount of grant money is allocated each year. The grants are awarded by the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee, which is made up of two county supervisors, three members of the Bishop City Council and two representatives of the Paiute Tribal Council. The final grant awards also must be approved by the Bishop Paiute Tribal Council, which operates the casino.
“We really appreciate the support provided by the Bishop Paiute Tribal Council,” said Jim Bilyeu, chairman of the Inyo County Board of Supervisors and member of the local indian gaming benefit committee. “This is a great example of Inyo County, the Bishop Paiute Tribe and the City of Bishop working together for the benefit of our community.”
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Last Updated ( Monday, 10 September 2007 )
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