Casino Revenue-Sharing Nets South Bend $1.2M

(Image courtesy of Four Winds South Bend.)

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The city of South Bend has received $1.2 million from the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians as part of a revenue sharing agreement. Provisions of the deal, signed in 2016 as one of the last steps before construction on the $400 million Four Winds Casino and tribal village could begin, involve payments from one percent of gaming machine revenue in lieu of property taxes.

The casino opened in January on a 166-acre property. The tribe says the tax and revenue-sharing arrangements with the city are similar in the three other Michigan communities where it operates Four Winds Casinos.

Pokagon Chairman Matt Wesaw says "this investment in our homeland is important to us. We know that strong schools and healthcare are important to Pokagons and our neighbors. South Bend is a city with the vision to support the same quality of life we do. We look forward to a long and impactful partnership."

The Pokagon Band has a presence in six Indiana counties and four in Michigan. Some 5,000 citizens are members of the sovereign tribe that operates Four Winds Casino Resort New Buffalo, Four Winds Hartford, Four Winds Dowagiac and Four Winds South Bend.