Colvilles Vote To Keep Casino Earnings

Approximately $11 million of casino income would be distributed directly to the 8,400 members of the Colville Confederated Tribes if tribal leaders accept the results of an advisory vote.

Officials said 763 members, a little more than 53 percent of the 1,432 members who voted, wanted all the money for personal use rather than to pay for government projects.

Chairman Joseph Pakootas said Wednesday that the tribal council will “take the results of the April 12 vote … into consideration as we continue monitoring expenditures in our current budget cycle.”

The second most popular option among eight on the ballot was a proposal to give 80 percent of the money to individuals and 20 percent to the tribal government. That option got 236 votes.

Other voting results: 133 members favored using all of the money for a list of needs the tribal government now can’t afford, 120 wrote in options of their own, and 70 voted to split the money evenly between individuals and the tribal government.

Also: 47 favored splitting the money between individuals and a program of buying reservation land owned by non-Indians, 34 wanted to split the money between individuals and construction of a jail, and 29 voted to split the money between the jail and the land-purchase program. , DataTimes