Tribe’s net revenue could exceed projections

Monday, Aug. 22, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

ADA, Okla. -- Net revenue from casinos may reach 15 percent over what Chickasaw Nation officials projected the tribe would clear in the next fiscal year.

The tribe expects to earn about $170 million, according to a budget approved Friday by tribal legislators. If the projection pans out, the tribe will triple its net earnings in fiscal 2003.

Tribal officials voted to increase funding for several programs, including education, which received nearly $5.1 million or a $4.7 million increase from the previous year.

Three of 13 legislators voted against the overall budget, saying more money should have been put aside for college grants.

The tribe runs 11 casinos in its 13-county area of southern Oklahoma.

They range from small trailers holding a couple hundred electronic machines to the nearly 200,000-square-foot WinStar Casino near the Texas border on Interstate 35.

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