On August 1st, the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) revealed that the contributions made to the state Government of tribal casinos continued to grow over the latest quarter of the fiscal year.
According to the information revealed by the gaming control board which oversees the gaming industry of the state, the amount brought as contributions by the tribal casinos in Arizona rose over the three months which ended on June 30th, 2018. the Arizona Department of Gaming shared that tribal contributions made from gambling services which were brought to the State amounted to about $22.7 million for the latest quarter.
The figure represents a 4.4% increase from the contributions made over the same fiscal quarter last year. Under the gaming compact which local Indian tribes have with the state, the tribal nations are obliged to contribute 1% to 8% of their Class III gross gaming revenue to the state. For the time being, there are 24 Class III in Arizona.
According to the Director of the ADG, Daniel Bergin, that was a strong start to Fiscal Year 2019, with the figures representing a sixth consecutive quarter of growth being a clear sign that the state of Arizona had a healthy economy.
As revealed by the Arizona Department of Gaming, the quarterly tribal contributions are to be distributed to the Arizona Benefit Funds. The stateās gaming control board is to provide $13,642,050 from the contributions accumulated to the Instructional Improvement Fund. The local Trauma and Emergency Services Fund is set to receive more than $6,821,000. The State Department of Gaming operating costs will get $2,463,452, while the State Tourism Fund and the Arizona Wildlife Conservation Fund will both receive an amount of $1,948,864. Some of the proceeds from tribal casinos contributions, or a total of $547,434 to be exact, will be used for funding problem gambling education, prevention, and treatment.
Contributions on the Rise in 2018 Fiscal Year
Back in May, the Department officials revealed that the total tribal gaming contributions in the state of Arizona for fiscal 2018 were the second highest since the current gaming compact inked between the state and the local Indian tribes was officially brought into action by Arizona voters.
The gaming contributions made over fiscal 2018 amounted to approximately $94 million, as revealed by the Arizona Department of Gaming. The announced figure reflects five straight quarterly increases. The contributions of local tribal casinos over the last three months of the financial year almost equaled $26 million, which represented a strong 4.3% rise over the last fiscal quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The total tribal gaming contributions made to the State of Arizona under the ongoing compact with the Indian tribal nations at the time amounted to a little over $1.21 billion, with the money being redirected to a variety of community funds and projects.
