National Indian Gaming Commission Sets Final 2004 Fee Rate
9% Reduction from Preliminary Rate

For Immediate Release

Uncasville CT--Mohegan Sun, August 17, 2004--Phil Hogen, Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, announced today that the Commission has established the final fee rate the Commission assesses on tribal gaming revenues for calendar year 2004. The announcement was made at the National Indian Gaming Association midyear meeting. The final rate of 0.00% for tier 1 (under $1.5 million) and 0.063% for tier 2 (over $1.5 million) gaming operations is approximately 9% lower than the preliminary rate established in January of this year. The announcement will be published in the Federal Register August 17, 2004.

Hogen noted that, “higher revenues in Indian gaming along with expenditures at less than budgeted levels allowed the Commission to reduce the final rate and this marks the fourth consecutive year the rate has decreased.” Continuing, Hogen stated that, “The 2004 rate requires that tribes send NIGC 63 cents for each $1,000 of assessable gross gaming revenues, down from 63.5 cents the prior year. While I expect continued growth in gaming, the growth rate more than likely will moderate. The slower growth rate and the need for additional resources will make it difficult to show further decreases in the rate, which is presently less than one tenth of one percent of assessable gross gaming revenues.”

The National Indian Gaming Commission is an independent regulatory agency established within the Department of the Interior pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. The NIGC is funded through fees collected from gaming operations under its jurisdiction. The agency bases fees on a percentage of assessable gross revenue of each gaming operation under the agency’s jurisdiction.

For more information, please contact Shawn Pensoneau at 202-632-7003.