http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2003167960_tribal
economy02n.html

Tulalip casino's impact "explosive"

By Lynn Thompson
Times Snohomish County Bureau

A study of Indian tribal economies in Washington state indicates tribes are
investing casino income in new businesses and their own government services
and, as a result, raising the economic prospects of their members and the
surrounding communities.

The Tulalip Tribes' economy was one of four Indian economies profiled in
the study by independent economist Jonathan Taylor for the Washington
Indian Gaming Association.

The report, delivered last week to the 2006 Northwest Indian Gaming
Conference in Tacoma, calculates that in 2004, tribal casinos and other
Indian businesses generated more than $3.2 billion in revenue in the state
and employed 13,146 people, about 4,000 of them Indians.

Locally, the Tulalips' 2005 taxable sales rose to $311 million, yielding
$26 million in taxes for the state, the report says.

John McCoy, the general manager of the Tulalips' Quil Ceda Village business
development, said the study shows that the Tulalips' economic growth,
described in the report as "explosive," benefits the entire community.

"We're generating jobs and taxes and attracting other investments to the
area," said McCoy, who also is a Democratic state representative from the
Tulalip Reservation.

But the report raises a long-standing complaint of McCoy and the tribes:
The Tulalips don't get any taxes generated by their Quil Ceda Village.

McCoy has introduced a bill in the Legislature the past several years to
redirect the local portion of the sales tax, about $2.2 million in 2005, to
the tribes. It now goes to Snohomish County, and the county has opposed the
legislation, saying it must pay for some of the impacts of development,
including new roads.

In the 2006 legislative session, the bill passed the House but failed to
move out of committee in the Senate. McCoy said he didn't know when, or if,
he would reintroduce the bill.

The report on tribal economies also documents the explosive growth in
traffic around the Marysville freeway exits.

Traffic at the 116th Street Northeast exit from Interstate 5, just north of
Quil Ceda Village, rose by 75 percent between 1995 and 2005. Traffic at
88th Street Northeast, at the south end of the development, has grown 420
percent in the past six years, the study says.

McCoy's opponent for the 38th District seat, Republican Kim Halvorson, has
argued that the tribes' development, which includes an outlet mall and
Wal-Mart and Home Depot stores, came without adequate planning or the
necessary roads and freeway overpasses.

The tribes say they've spent $60 million on roads and infrastructure for
Quil Ceda Village and recently spent $6 million on design work for a
widened 116th Street Northeast overpass. The county has not listed the
116th project as a priority for state funding, McCoy said.

Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@...

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company