People Against a Casino Town
News of Interest
PACT:  Casino liquor deal unfair
 
PACT says the deal puts the tribes at a huge advantage over local bars, restaurants and liquor stores
that buy from the OLCC at cost plus 100 to 105 percent. 
 “I can understand providing liquor at cost to servicemen, but this is different.”  
“This is direct competition with everyone else who sells liquor in the area.”

5/22/04
By Bret Yager
Siuslaw News
Florence, Oregon

People Against A Casino Town say that the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians are getting a huge break on their alcohol purchases and preferential treatment by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The tribes say it’s the same deal other Indian nations receive around the country; tribes can buy liquor at wholesale prices without paying the big markup caused by state taxes.

PACT says the OLCC refused to release a draft memorandum of agreement with the tribes on the grounds that they didn’t have to do so because of the tribe’s sovereign status. After a petition was filed with the Oregon Attorney General’s office under the Freedom of Information Act, the OLCC released the document. In it, PACT found information indicating that the OLCC routinely sells liquor to casinos at 5 percent over cost, half as much as it charges bars and restaurants.

The 5 percent over cost rate is the same one that OLCC charges government agencies like the Coast Guard and the Air Force.    “Because tribes are sovereign, they’re treated the same as a government agency,” said Linda Ignowski, regulatory program director overseeing licensing and enforcement at the OLCC. “I don’t know the history or rationale behind it; it’s not my area of expertise.”

Tribal Economic Development Director Bob Garcia said that, in other states, tribes often don’t get their liquor through commissions like the OLCC but are able to buy directly from wholesalers because of their sovereign nation status. Since tribes aren’t subject to state tax, they don’t have to pay the increased cost that bars, taverns and liquor stores do. 

The OLCC doesn’t tax or regulate liquor on Indian reservations or federal property and tribes receive the same level of accommodation as other governments, Garcia said.   “Liquor laws are unique in every state,” Garcia said. “In other states, tribes compete directly with the state in liquor sales. We have worked out a government of government agreement as part of our compact, and that is the difference.”

PACT says the deal puts the tribes at a huge advantage over local bars, restaurants and liquor stores that buy from the OLCC at cost plus 100 to 105 percent.   “I can understand providing liquor at cost to servicemen, but this is different,” said a resident who was involved in procuring the memorandum of agreement and asked not to be identified. “This is direct competition with everyone else who sells liquor in the area.”

The citizen group is also calling for a public hearing on the liquor license application for the Three Rivers Casino. PACT leaders say the application is being hurried toward rapid approval without proper posting or public comment.

“There are just a lot of games being played,” said PACT president Susie Dewberry. “The OLCC normally has to tell the city and county that an application has been made. They didn’t do it this time. They posted the notice at the casino, behind No Trespassing signs and as you know, you can't go up there.”

While other applications are posted on the OLCC website, residents have complained that the only public notice of the casino application was posted out of public view on tribal land.  Ignowski said the casino application is being treated the same as all others.   “Notification of a permit application is sent to the city or county that the casino is in, and they can comment favorably, unfavorably or not at all.”

Since the Three Rivers Casino is outside Florence, notification would go to the county, Ignowski said.  The law, she said, states that the application must be posted on the premises of the establishment applying.  “We don’t necessarily hold public meetings unless there’s a controversy about the application. Then it goes to commissioners and that’s a public meeting,” she said. “But the public is welcome to send letters and call expressing concerns. The liquor license applications are posted on the website as a courtesy. There is also a list of pending applications. There would be no reason that the casino isn’t listed other than that the information has not yet gotten up to our person who does the web page in Portland. We wouldn’t treat this application any different than any other.”

The OLCC held a telephone meeting Friday to hear public comments on the casino liquor license. Held just two days after OLCC sent out the press release announcing the meeting, a PACT document states, the meeting “does not appear to be a public hearing as most people understand that term.”

“With already dangerous conditions on Highway 126, the last thing we want to do is invite an increase in traffic of people who have had a drink or two before driving home,” PACT spokesman Arnold Buchman said. “Also, this is grossly unfair and harmful to the Florence economy. I’ll bet 90 percent of state legislators are unaware of this advantage. It’s bad public policy.”

The OLCC has said they will accept written comments until noon May 26 at the following address: Executive Director, Oregon Liquor Control Commission, P.O. Box 22297, Milwaukie, OR 97269-2297.

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