ToCasino.net Online Casino

The Oneida tribe will collect at least $3 million annually in banking fees and has the "right of first refusal" to finance the first phase of a Menominee casino in Kenosha in exchange for its support of the project, according to the newly released agreement.

In addition, the Menominee is promising not to advertise the Kenosha casino, which it hopes to build with Hard Rock International, north of Milwaukee. That promise is intended to protect the market for the Oneida tribe's casino near Green Bay. The Oneida casino is in the middle of a $27.9 million expansion.

The Oct. 17 agreement was posted on Oneidaeye.com, a small website maintained by Leah Sue Dodge, a member of the Oneida tribe and critic of the tribe's leadership. As a tribal member, Dodge said, she obtained a copy of the agreement from the tribal secretary's office.

The Oneida announced its endorsement of the controversial Kenosha casino project on Oct. 17, the same day it signed its agreement with the Menominee. Details of the agreement were kept confidential initially.

Winning the Oneida endorsement was vital to the Menominee because Gov. Scott Walker has repeatedly said he would approve an off-reservation casino in Kenosha only if each of the state's other 10 tribes also agreed to the project. Walker has unilateral veto power over the off-reservation casino, which the federal government approved in August.

The Forest County Potawatomi and the Ho-Chunk tribes remain opposed to the proposed $800 million Kenosha casino complex. Both tribes fear a Hard Rock/Menominee casino would cut into profits at their lucrative casinos. The Potawatomi tribe fears it would lose about 40% of the revenue it collects at its own off-reservation casino in Milwaukee, while the Ho-Chunk feels it could take a $20 million annual hit at its Madison and Wisconsin Dells casinos.

The seven page Oneida-Menominee agreement states that:

■ The Oneida tribe, acting through a bank it owns, will provide automated teller and cash advance services at the casino for at least seven years. The agreement states that the contracts for the services "contain terms that at a minimum result in projections of $3 million annually in revenue" for the tribe.

■ The tribe be given the first opportunity to provide some or all of the $400 million financing expected to be needed for the first phase of the Kenosha project. The first phase is expected to cost about $500 million, 80% of which will likely be financed.

■ The Menominee agreed not to advertise a Kenosha casino on television or radio markets north of Milwaukee; on billboards in the Green Bay-Appleton market or in daily papers in those cities. The casino also will not send direct mail solicitations to people living north of Milwaukee County. The ban runs for 15 years.

The limit is in sync with marketing plans previously disclosed by the Menominee and Hard Rock. In a presentation to Walker last month, they said that 65% of the proposed casino's revenue would come from Illinois gamblers.

Dodge, who disclosed the agreement, was critical of the Oneida for even considering participating in the loan arrangement, saying the tribe doesn't have the funds to do so. "The elders are very concerned about this," she said.

Oneida spokeswoman Bobbi Webster said the agreement is a "creative solution that's going to allow the Menominee to improve their quality of life and get their casino while allowing us to be a partner and to protect our interest."

Meanwhile, for the second week in a row, Walker on Friday backed away from his self-imposed deadline to approve or veto the Menominee tribe's application.

"Legally, we've got plenty of time to take all the time we need," he said, adding that the federal government considered the application for years before approving it. "We're going to spend the appropriate amount of time to make a good decision."

Federal law gives Walker until August to act on the matter, although that deadline can be extended.