Shawano County receives more than $82,000 annually from the Ho-Chunk Nation from its gaming compact with the state, with very few strings attached to the money.
The only caveats are that the money cannot be used in any action that harms the tribe, such as hiring an attorney to oppose a land-to-trust petition, and the county has to tell the tribe how the money is spent.
The Finance Committee, however, this week discussed creating new guidelines for funds received from American Indian tribes.
Supervisor Sandy Steinke, a member of the Finance Committee and chairwoman for the Tribal Affairs Committee, said the county needs more guidelines, especially since there is potential to receive additional stipends from the Ho-Chunk and Stockbridge-Munsee tribes.
She said there are about a dozen land-to-trust petitions coming from the tribes, and the county could receive compensation for taking the land off the tax rolls.
Steinke said she researched whether there was any county policy regarding the funds, which are shuttled toward capital improvement projects (CIP), and found none.
“We could not find anywhere where this money was supposed to go to,” Steinke said. “There’s no policy or guidelines. It just got funneled into CIP.”
The gaming money came to the forefront last year when the Parks Department requested $55,000 to build a new fish cleaning station at Shawano Lake County Park, and county officials recommended using the Ho-Chunk funds for the project. Some supervisors questioned whether the tribe wanted the money spent on such a project.
In previous years, other park projects have benefited from the Ho-Chunk funds, including $65,000 to renovate the Bowen house at Shawano Lake for park offices and living quarters for summer interns, and $160,000 at Wilson Lake for a shelter and new playground equipment.
Steinke has asked Ho-Chunk officials how they prefer the money be spent. Educational, environmental and community-based programs were mentioned, she said.
Supervisor Marlin Noffke said a policy is unnecessary and that the intergovernmental agreement between the county and the Ho-Chunk enacted in 2010 was enough. As an alternative, he recommended that caveats be developed on a case-by-case basis during future negotiations.
“Just wave this document and say that this suffices. Why do we need to go beyond that?” Noffke said.
Steinke will meet with Corporation Counsel Tony Kordus, who is out of the office this week, and bring ideas to the Finance Committee in August.
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