St. Paul, Minnesota (AP)

Although Minnesota’s Indian casinos don’t open their financial books to the public, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reports that Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s demand for $350 million annually could amount to half of the casinos’ profits.

Pawlenty has said the casinos risk competition from Las Vegas if they don’t pay up.

The newspaper cited various estimates Oct. 24 suggesting that casino revenues total $1 billion a year or more after prize money is paid out but before expenses are paid.

A 2003 report by the Federal Reserve Bank estimated 2000 revenues of Indian casinos at $850 million to $900 million. The Minnesota Lottery in September said revenue estimates have ranged from $1 billion to $2 billion.

John McCarthy, director of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, acknowledged that the annual figure could be about $1 billion.

The $350 million that Pawlenty seeks could represent anywhere from 50 percent to nearly 90 percent of total casino profits after expenses are paid, depending how they’re defined, McCarthy said.

Tribal casinos typically get 80 to 90 percent of their revenue from slot machines, dwarfing the take from blackjack, according to William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and an expert on the gambling industry.

Thompson told the Star Tribune that there is plenty of “hocus-pocus” involving estimates of total wagering in tribal casinos.

Minnesota’s 18 casinos range from remote operations patronized by Indians and other local residents to Vegas-sized businesses. Half of all of the slot machines in the state are located in four casinos – Mystic Lake, Grand Casino Hinckley, Grand Casino Mille Lacs, near Onamia, and Black Bear in Carlton.

Although most casinos pay little or none of their profits directly to Indians, Mystic Lake, the state’s largest casino, has made large payments to members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Tribe.

Mystic Lake shares much of its profits with an estimated 190 adult members of its tribe in Prior Lake. Many of them have used the money over the years to buy large houses, motor homes, sport-utility vehicles and watercraft.

Since 1994, when former tribal chairman and casino manager Leonard Prescott, in the midst of a tribal dispute, said the tribe earned $97 million in one year, the Shakopee have largely been mum about their finances.

In 2000, the annual profit-sharing had grown to more than $900,000 per member, some members told the newspaper.

Shakopee tribal spokesman William Hardacker has denounced Pawlenty’s call for $350 million, saying the tribe already gives money to surrounding communities.

Hardacker said the tribe has given $42 million in the past seven years to charities that help Indians and non-Indians, and $1 million a year to local governments in lieu of taxes. “Shakopee is doing a lot with its revenue to help other tribes,” he added.

Pawlenty, however, wants to see the numbers.

“The tribes disagree with us about how much money their casinos are bringing in,’’ he said. “This disagreement could easily be put to rest if the tribes open their books.’’

Shakopee members account for fewer than 1 percent of Indians who live on or near Minnesota reservations. Most casinos do not share profits directly with tribal members, and on some reservations many Indians live at or near the poverty level.