Avoyelles Parish officials received a welcome surprise at a recent event when Tunica Biloxi Chairman Marshall Pierite (seated left) presented a check for $266,235 to Police Jury President Kirby Roy (seated right). The amount is the quarterly distribution of 6 percent of the Paragon Casino's gaming revenues to local public entities as provided for in the tribe's gaming compact with the state. Others participating in the event included (back row, from left) Vice Chairman Marshall Ray Sampson ,Council Member Rudolph Henry “Rudy” Wambsgans III, Council Secretary Beverly C. Rachal and Council Members Bobby Pierite Sr., Harold Pierite Sr. and James Craig III. {Photo by Ehrhardt Group}
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe shares casino profits with local governments
Avoyelles local public entities will be sharing $266,235 of what has been a rare quarterly distribution of revenue under the Paragon Casino Resort's gaming compact with the state.
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe surprised Police Jury President Kirby Roy and other parish officials with the check during an event on June 10 that was scheduled to deal with an intergovernmental agreement to allow the tribe to make improvements to Slim Lemoine Road, a parish road that runs through the tribe's reservation in Marksville.
The tribe's gaming compact provides for 6 percent of the casino's net profits from gaming to be distributed to the Police Jury, School Board, Sheriff's Office, District Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, 12th Judicial District Court, Avoyelles Tourism Commission and the nine municipalities.
The money is sent to the Police Jury, which then distributes the amount under a formula in the compact.
The Tourism Commission receives $12,500 off the top from that amount. That is the same whether the total amount is $12,501 or much more.
The distribution formula gives the Police Jury 34 percent, but at some point the jury agreed to give the Sheriff's Office 5 percent of its share.
The Sheriff's Office receives 23.5 percent under the compact, plus 5 percent of the jury's payment.
The School Board receives 12 percent, DA gets 4 percent, district court receives 1 percent and Public Defender's Board gets 0.5 percent.
The municipalities split the remaining 25 percent.
For most of the past six years, the casino has not made the quarterly distributions because the resort was operating at a net loss after all operating expenses were paid. There were a few quarterly disbursements scattered during that time and the tribe also made several one-time donations to public agencies.
"This will be a big plus for our General Fund," Roy said. "We can use this money as local matching funds to secure state grants or to help with cash flow issues if an account is low."