Grants flow despite Seminoles' wealth

A report says the tribe takes in millions of dollars in aid even as casinos bring in billions.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has touted publicly that the billions it makes off gambling has helped it become self-sufficient, but a newspaper investigation shows that it still pulls in millions of dollars in federal government grants while claiming financial limitations.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, in a story published Thursday, detailed numerous examples of the tribe claiming financial constraints when it sought federal help, like when it asked for thousands of dollars to pay for new officers, an airboat and computers for its police department - all of it needed because its casinos in Tampa and Hollywood were drawing bigger crowds.

The tribe also sent a $123,130 bill to the Federal Emergency Management Agency after members evacuated to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood ahead of Hurricane Frances in 2004. Records show the guests rang up charges for 150 rooms, plus movies, alcohol, valet parking and expensive meals at the hotel, which the tribe owns. After rejecting initial claims, FEMA eventually paid $103,864.

In a five-year period ending in 2005, the tribe took in more than $3.2-billion in revenues while collecting $80-million in government aid, according to the tribe's annual audits. The tribe's almost 3,400 members each receive $120,000 annually from its enterprises.

Seminole Tribal Council member Max Osceola Jr. defended the grants, telling the Sun-Sentinel that the tribe is eligible like all other tribes whether "you have a penny in your pocket or a dollar in your pocket."

The Seminoles, like most tribes, also receive grants based on policies and treaties established with the government for needs such as health care and education; a tribe's financial strength is not considered.

And the Seminoles are not unique. In Connecticut, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe combined spent $5.9-million in grants that year, as their Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun hotel and casino took in an estimated $2.3-billion, according to the Indian Gaming Industry Report.

Tribes are required to report how their grants were spent. The Seminoles' government reports show:

- The U.S. Department of Justice gave the tribe $330,902 in 2005 after the Seminole Police Department reported a surge in calls because of growing crowds at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos in Hollywood and Tampa. The grant paid for two new officers, 112 laptops and other computer equipment.

- In 2006, another Justice Department grant helped pay for a $39,000 airboat for the Seminole police. The tribe cited police "budget restraints" in its grant application.

- The tribe's Water Resources Management Department received $20,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 to mark high-water levels on its reservations. "The tribe has been working unsuccessfully to identify resources to fund the development of this baseline data," the May 12 application said.

- This year, when the tribe completed a $965-million deal to buy the Hard Rock International chain of hotels and cafes, it sought several grants, including almost $200,000 for the establishment of tribal courts.

Gilbert Moore, a Justice Department spokesman, said the applications to his department are legitimate.

"Need has never been a consideration for our grants," he said. Some cities, for instance, "are pretty well-to-do, but we wouldn't discriminate against those communities."

After the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, FEMA reimbursed the Seminoles a total of $2.5-million for expenses for which any government would be entitled, such as debris removal. FEMA also paid to move the tribe's aircraft away from approaching storms, records show.

After the Frances evacuation, FEMA initially rejected the Seminoles' Hard Rock claim, finding the costs "beyond what would be considered reasonable," records show. FEMA reversed course three times over the next year, but in September 2006 agreed to pay, based on a letter from the tribe's emergency management planner saying the Hard Rock is a "shelter for the tribe's elderly and special needs population."

The guests included people who were neither old nor disabled. But FEMA spokesman Josh Wilson said that "once the Seminole Tribe showed FEMA correspondence that indicated the (casino resort) was listed in the emergency plan as a temporary emergency shelter, we made the funds available."

[Last modified November 30, 2007, 01:31:06]