California Tribe Signs Payment Deal

29 September 2006

SHINGLE SPRINGS, California – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, a federally recognized Indian tribe, announced it has signed an Intergovernmental Agreement with El Dorado County that will provide the County with at least $87 million in payments over 20 years for services and as a contribution to the County's General Fund.

The historic agreement also provides $5.2 million each year for 20 years from the Tribe to construct HOV lanes on Highway 50. The project is an existing one for which Caltrans has already conducted environmental reviews. It has been approved and programmed for construction as soon as funding is available. Without funding, which does not exist now nor will in the foreseeable future without this Agreement, the HOV Project could never be built.

Tribal Chairman Nick Fonseca said, "This is a historic day for our tribal nation and El Dorado County. This agreement will ensure that the residents of the County will benefit for decades to come. Our contributions to the County will be the single largest revenue generator of any business in the County, creating funds for the County to spend to help provide services to the local residents. We are happy to contribute this much needed funding to improve the quality of life here in El Dorado County."

The Agreement also calls for the Shingle Springs Tribe to pay:

* $500,000 annually to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department;

* Annual discretionary fund payments to the County in the amount of $2 million for years one through seven, then $1.3 million for years eight through 20; and

* The Tribe will pay an additional $2.5 million annually, increasing 2% each year, for years eight through 20.

* The Tribe has agreed to collect sales and transient hotel taxes equal to commercial businesses in the county so as not to have a competitive advantage and to share $500,000 of those collections, annually with the County

The Agreement will allot to the County an extra $100,000 a year per additional 100 machines, if the Tribe is allowed to operate more than 2,000 Class III slot machines.

The Tribe is planning to build a $200 million casino on its 160-acre reservation, creating 1,500 new jobs, tens of millions of dollars in new revenue for local goods and service providers working with the facility, and tens of millions of dollars in ancillary economic activity throughout the County. The Tribe plans to build a 250-room luxury hotel in future phases of the project. The tribe will also build an off-ramp from Highway 50 that will allow patrons and visitors immediate and direct access to and from the reservation without putting additional cars on local streets. The interchange will also give the Tribe the direct access to its reservation that it has long lacked. For its part, the County has agreed to drop all of its existing litigation against the Tribe and formally support the Tribe's interchange and casino projects.