Indian Gaming

Off-reservation gaming has been good to Airway Heights, Washington, the city manager said.

The city hosts the Northern Quest Casino, owned by the Kalispel Tribe. Property values have grown by more than $101 million since the casino opened in 2000 and the facility has attracted other businesses, city Manager Albert Tripp told The Spokesman Review.

“We have the record of what’s happened here economically over the past 12 years," Tripp told the paper.

Tripp made his comments in response to a study commissioned by the Spokane County Commission that claimed the off-reservation casino proposed by the Spokane Tribe will hurt the local economy. The county sent its report to the Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of the environmental impact statement for the West Plains Mixed-Use Development.

The Spokane Tribe is pursing the casino under the two-part determination provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. That means the governor's approval is required if the BIA approves the project.

In the history of IGRA, only three tribes have successfully opened casinos under the two-part determination provisions. One is the Kalispel Tribe, whose leaders oppose the Spokane Tribe's casino.

Get the Story:
City: Casino not a tax drain (The Spokesman Review 5/17)

Federal Register Notice:
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Spokane Tribe of Indians West Plains Casino and Mixed Use Project, City of Airway Heights, Spokane County, WA (February 1, 2013)

Related Stories:
Letter: Casino won't help Spokane Tribe with unemployment (5/13)