{"id":63970,"date":"2017-11-27T16:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=63970"},"modified":"2017-11-27T16:07:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T00:07:15","slug":"council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Bluffs Looks for Next Fight to Stop Ponca Tribe from Developing Competing Iowa Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, hasn\u2019t yet given up the fight to keep the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska from building a casino that would compete with the Midwestern gaming town.<\/p>\n

\"Ponca
The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is ready to build a casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, which has corporate casinos in nearby Council Bluffs crying foul. (Image: Omaha World-Herald)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Officials in Council Bluffs have vowed to appeal a recent decision by the National Indian Gaming Commission, affirming a 2007 designation that would give the tribe rights to develop a casino on their land in Carter Lake, Iowa.<\/p>\n

Land Use Disputes<\/h2>\n

Council Bluffs City Attorney Dick Wade said such a venue would negatively affect the other three gambling properties that are less than 10 miles from the proposed site. He told the Omaha World-Herald<\/em> that when the sovereign nation purchased the 4.8 acres in 1999 and put it into a trust four years later that its intended use was as a medical clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think the action of the Indian Gaming Commission is consistent with their rules and the way the land was originally put into trust,\u201d Wade said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Council Bluffs, along with the neighboring states of Nebraska and Iowa, filed a lawsuit against the commission\u2019s first ruling in 2007. They contend that a lawyer for the tribe had agreed in 2003 not to develop the land for a casino.<\/p>\n

A district court, however, found the oral agreement not binding and sided with the Ponca tribe. In 2010, the 8th<\/sup> Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court\u2019s decision and ordered the NIGC to review the land-use agreements for a second time.<\/p>\n

That ruling body reaffirmed its original conclusion<\/a> and again found in favor of the Ponca, which led to Wade\u2019s announcement of exploring further legal action. He said the city council would meet this week to discuss how they would proceed further to prevent the development and protect Council Bluff\u2019s gaming industry.<\/p>\n

Unfair Competition?<\/h2>\n

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission<\/a> oversees the three nearby Ameristar, Harrah\u2019s, and Horseshoe casinos. They pay a 26 percent tax on adjusted gross gaming revenue, an expense that would not apply to any new tribal casino, Wade said.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThey could easily have their machines set to pay out 5 to 10 percent more than the machines in an Iowa-regulated facility would have and still make more of a profit, which would draw gamblers away from Iowa casinos,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like it would be anywhere near an even playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Those three facilities generated $416 million in adjusted gross revenue last year, and paid approximately $85 million in taxes.<\/p>\n

Larry Wright Jr., chairman of the 4,100-member Ponca tribe, said he was relieved that the decade-long legal battle was over and that his group could move forward with casino construction plans. The development as planned will have space for 2,000 slot machines and 50 table games, with a 150-room hotel. No cost has yet been disclosed.<\/p>\n

Its location is what has Council Bluffs set on trying to stop it, and why Wright believes it will be a guaranteed success. To be located seven miles from downtown Omaha, the casino will be at the Iowa-Nebraska border and able to attract customers from both states.<\/p>\n

Wright said he was not concerned with any future litigation and expects those opposed to respect the commission\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have reaffirmed the tribe\u2019s sovereign right to conduct gaming here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe look forward to having a respectful and productive dialogue with the appropriate officials in Iowa.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, hasn\u2019t yet given up the fight to keep the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska from building a casino that would compete with the Midwestern gaming town. Officials in Council Bluffs have vowed to appeal a recent decision by the National Indian Gaming Commission, affirming a 2007 designation that would give […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":63971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,60,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCouncil Bluffs Vows Fight Against Ponca Tribe\u2019s Competing Iowa Casino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The city attorney of Council Bluffs, Iowa, said the city council plans to appeal a decision allowing a casino in nearby Carter Lake.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Council Bluffs Vows Fight Against Ponca Tribe\u2019s Competing Iowa Casino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The city attorney of Council Bluffs, Iowa, said the city council plans to appeal a decision allowing a casino in nearby Carter Lake.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-28T00:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-28T00:07:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ponca.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/\",\"name\":\"Council Bluffs Vows Fight Against Ponca Tribe\u2019s Competing Iowa Casino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ponca.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-28T00:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-28T00:07:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The city attorney of Council Bluffs, Iowa, said the city council plans to appeal a decision allowing a casino in nearby Carter Lake.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/council-bluffs-vows-fight-against-ponca-tribes-competing-iowa-casino\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ponca.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ponca.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":730,\"caption\":\"The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is ready to build a casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, which has corporate casinos in nearby Council Bluffs crying foul. 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