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California Gambling Taxes Beat Projections14 November 2002SACRAMENTO, California – As reported by the San Diego Union Tribune: "The first round of Indian gambling taxes paid to the state has come in substantially higher than expected, setting a pace that should generate nearly $100 million during the first year. "The checks, including more than $4 million from three San Diego County tribes, suggest the flourishing casinos are doing as well or better than many believed. "State and local officials, as well as tribal leaders, have speculated for months about how much the state would collect in the tax on net winnings from slot machines. That the latest forecast is rosier than most anticipated may only intensify what figures to be a long debate over how to spend the money. "…Under California's Indian gambling agreements, or compacts, tribes finance two funds. One is a revenue-sharing account that provides a large new source of income for poorer, mostly nongaming tribes. The other was set up largely to offset impacts of the rapidly expanding $5 billion industry. "…Legislative analysts projected the fund would collect upward of $80 million in its first year. With most of the checks in, the first-quarter receipts total just more than $23 million and are expected to exceed $24 million when four outstanding payments arrive, an attorney for the California Gambling Control Commission said. "Projected over a full year, the fund should approach $100 million, or nearly 25 percent more than the original projection…" |