Tribe distributes $2,885,469.61 to local units of government and area schools
5/24/2016 9:00:00 AM - 2% Distributions

By Joseph V. Sowmick, Photojournalist

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe released their semi-annual 2% distribution, funds derived from Class III gaming, at its properties Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort and Saganing Eagles Landing Casino on May 20. During this spring 2016 semi-annual distribution, the Tribe gave $2,128,364.02 to Isabella County with $1,489,854.81 in distribution to local units of government and $638,509.21 for education. At the Saganing Outreach Center in Standish, the Tribe distributed $757,105.59 for Arenac and Northern Bay County with $492,115.91 allocated for local units of government and $264,989.68 earmarked for education.

Tribal Council is aware of the impact the distributions have for the economic well-being of each community and they view each of the requests carefully.

“Our Tribal Council understands the importance and needs of local communities. The condition of our state’s infrastructure meets some of those needs by focusing on roads and public safety vehicles,” Tribal Chief Frank J. Cloutier said. “We are excited about the continued collaboration and the opportunities we can grant in the future.”

The grand total of money distributed for this semi-annual distribution was $2, 885,469.61. Since May 1994 when the Tribe started the semi-annual distributions, a total of 232,499,398.73 have been given to date.

SCIT Public Relations Director Erik Rodriguez informs this year there were a combined 405 individual requests. 

“Local units of governments turned in 100 and 305 were handed in from local area schools. Isabella County submitted 39 government and 260 school requests that would have taken $8.1 million to fund.  Saganing requests totaled more than $2.1 million to fund the 106 submitted for Tribal Council review,” Rodriguez said. “As with other years, the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council and the Finance Committee reviews and prioritizes the many different requests. As we continue to look for economic opportunities and expansion of other interests, we remain confident that our Tribe and businesses will be competitive in the marketplace.”

SCIT Media offers a live web stream broadcast of both Isabella and Saganing press conferences and they are available to watch online at www.sagchip.org.