Bill seeks to open path for casino project in Grand Forks
Jan. 31—GRAND FORKS — A bill making its way through the Legislature seeks to expand the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa's reach for casino operations, an early step in a long process to possibly build a resort in Grand Forks.
Senate Bill 2376 was introduced by Sens. Scott Meyer, R-Grand Forks, and Richard Marcellais, D-Belcourt, along with Reps. Landon Bahl, R-Grand Forks, and Jayme Davis, D-Rolette.
If passed in its present form, SB 2376 will add a line to Section 54-58-03 of North Dakota's Century Code, which at present decrees that the Turtle Mountain Band may only conduct gaming "on land within Rolette County held in trust for the band by the United States government which was in trust as of the effective date of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988."
If SB 2376 passes, it will add to the end of that section the following sentence: "and on land within Grand Forks County, if approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988."
The proposal came to the Legislature from the Turtle Mountain Band and was presented to the lawmakers by Mike Krumwiede, a lobbyist from Staiger Consulting Group. The four lawmakers listed as sponsors hail from the two counties that would be affected: Bahl and Meyer from Grand Forks County, where the tribe wants to build the casino; and Marcellais and Davis from Rolette County, where the tribe is headquartered.
If it's built, it likely would come with construction and development costs of $280 million or more, employ some 800 and become one of Grand Forks' Top 10 employers, according to data compiled by a 2022 feasibility study. Further, the study predicted the casino would have gross annual gaming revenue of approximately $80 million in its first year of operation, a number that likely would climb to nearly $90 million by Year 5.
Those figures don't include lodging, food, beverage and other amenities.
All plans are still in the most preliminary stages, but no progress will happen without a change to state law, which is what SB 2376 seeks to do.
"I know it's not an easy lift. The Legislature tends to abstain from gaming, but I look at it as a tourism driver for our community and an economic driver not only for the community but the state," said Meyer, also noting what he considers an economic benefit for the tribe. "I know we already might be behind the eight-ball when it comes to folks who are anti-gaming, but I'm trying to show there is a lot more to it — the tourism aspect, the spa, concerts. Hopefully, something like this also increases the retail opportunities in our community."
Bahl, whose full-time job is in the hospitality industry in Grand Forks, said he signed on to the bill because he enjoys discussing big ideas. "And this is a big idea," he said.
He doesn't necessarily see it as competition — at least in its earliest form.
Most often, "you go to the casino for the casino. If you want a downtown vibe, then let's talk about a hotel. You aren't going to stay at the casino hotel just for fun. Now, if it's a resort, that's a different story — you're starting to compete with places downtown," he said. "That's why it needs to be crafted carefully. The city needs to be careful to ensure we're not taking people away from the businesses and entrepreneurs (that already exist)."
He said city and state leaders need to be diligent about its potential ramifications, but "I look at this as a forward-thinking opportunity."
Building an American Indian casino in Grand Forks has been discussed for two decades, but plans "died out because of lack of support on city and state levels," the Herald reported in the past.
The idea is once again before the City Council
. The latest iteration is a "high-end resort" — as worded in council documents — that would include a casino, hotel, a family entertainment center and convention space. The plan calls for it to be built on 146 acres of land on the extreme southern edge of the city, on the west side of Interstate 29. Whereas the tribe owns the land, the acreage must be put into tribal trust and identified for gaming before a casino could be erected there.
At Monday's meeting of the Committee of the Whole, council members
approved to move forward on a non-binding letter of intent
with the tribe that requests city support and assistance, to (the) extent allowable by law, in obtaining necessary approvals for the development by state, local and federal agencies and officials.
One difference between this proposal and those in the past is that the tribe now owns the land. However, it's not likely the tribe would use more than a fraction of the total acres for the actual casino/resort, City Administrator Todd Feland said earlier this week.
State and federal approval will be required before the project can move forward.
Feland said the tribe has met with Gov. Kelly Armstrong, who "has generally provided his support for moving forward with this, with the understanding that it will require legislative support, too." Meyer and Turtle Mountain Chairman Jamie Azure also say Armstrong has been supportive.
Since tribes are sovereign nations, their casinos operate within a framework of unique rules. For example, a casino in Grand Forks County probably would be exempt from paying property and sales taxes. Feland said if the city gets behind the project, the city will require payments from the tribe in lieu of traditional taxes.
"That would be an important part of the development agreement," he said. "In lieu of taxes, whether sales or property taxes, we will have to make a determination of what it would be and then put it into the agreement — that they will pay those sums of money to the community, or city, for services and infrastructure and economic impact. ... If we can't tax it in an ordinary way, we will find other mechanisms to make up the difference."
Mayor Brandon Bochenski, during Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting, said the tribe isn't asking for a tax incentive.
"I expect them to pay an equal amount of taxes that all the rest of us do and then some," he said. "It's some other mechanism that (will require the casino) pay what a normal facility like this would pay in taxes and then some. The whole idea is that this would benefit the schools, parks, city and county."
The city's likely investment and commitment, according to Feland, would be "water, wastewater, stormwater and transportation infrastructure investments that (Turtle Mountain) has committed to paying for through upfront cash payments and or/special assessments over time."
Additionally, the land would be annexed into the city.
In 2022, a study by the Innovation Group — provided to the Herald by the city — showed that the casino/resort in Grand Forks could attract as many as 900,000 visitors annually (more than 400,000 from outside the local area), require staffing of 812 workers and have a payroll of some $31.7 million. It would add $71.9 million to the Grand Forks economy in direct gross domestic product, they study predicts.
For comparison on visitation, approximately 280,000 attended ticketed events at the Alerus Center during the first 11 months of 2024.
The study noted that "it is common for tribal casino trust applications to include agreements for the host city municipality to receive direct payments as a percentage of gaming revenue. We estimate that such a payment would result in an annual payment to the city of Grand Forks of approximately $855,000, for a total local fiscal impact of nearly $1 million."
Some of the land would be "fee land" and applicable to taxation, according to the city. The portion of the land in trust (such as the casino itself) would not be subject to property taxes, but the tribe likely would pay the city through the host community agreement. Notes compiled by the city for the next council meeting notes that estimates "translate to (Turtle Mountain) paying roughly $2.4 million per year to local subdivisions through property tax and the host community services agreement." Local subdivisions include the school district, the city, the county and the park district.
The 2022 study delved into the possible impact it would have on other businesses. Bahl, the supporting Grand Forks lawmaker who works in the hospitality industry, said he believes a casino will have amenities that will make it unique, but that it probably "won't be able to compete" with existing hospitality sites and neighborhoods that each have their own niche.
According to the 2022 study, "casino development increases room demand at non-casino hotels, even when casino hotels are built." The study cited data from Shreveport, Louisiana, noting that occupancy in hotels not associated with a casino there went from approximately 60% prior to the casino's opening to 74% a few years later.
The study said "the positive spillover effect on local hotels for one is unequivocally demonstrated in numerous jurisdictions, even in markets where casinos operate hotels for their gaming customers."
Feland figures it'll be a year or two to "work through the process."
If built, the Grand Forks resort will be the only American Indian casino in one of North Dakota's large cities and one of just two adjacent to an interstate highway.
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