[HISTORY: Adopted by the Legislature of the
Menominee Indian Tribe as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 6-5-1997 by Ord. No. 97-06; amended in its entirety 1-3-2008]
The purpose of this amendment is to reorganize the Menominee
Indian Gaming Authority under Article XIII of the Constitution and
Bylaws of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin ("Tribe") and to
adopt a Charter ("Charter") for the Menominee Indian Gaming Authority.
A.
This amendment reorganizes the existing Menominee Indian Gaming Authority
(MIGA). The Menominee Indian Gaming Authority, as reorganized by this
article, shall continue to hold, control, manage and operate all properties,
whether tangible or intangible, operations, obligations, contract
rights, licenses and other rights and inurements of the Menominee
Indian Gaming Authority, as established pursuant to Tribal Ordinance
No. 97-06, adopted by the Tribal Legislature on March 4, 2004,[1] and shall automatically, upon the effective date of this
article, succeed, without need of any further act or instrument, whether
of conveyance or otherwise, to all interests whatsoever of its predecessor
in interest in, and to hold, control, manage and operate all such
properties, whether tangible or intangible, operations, contract rights,
licenses and other rights and inurements of said predecessor in interest.
[1]
Editor's Note: Ordinance No. 97-06 was originally adopted
6-5-1997 and amended in its entirety 3-4-2004.
B.
In furtherance of the provisions of this section, all valid and binding
contractual and other obligations of said predecessor in interest
existing on the effective date of this article are hereby assumed
by MIGA, which shall accordingly be obligated to perform in full each
and every such contractual or other obligation heretofore entered
into or assumed by said predecessor in interest. Moreover, each and
every party to any such contract, instrument, document or agreement
(other than said predecessor in interest) shall be a third party beneficiary
of this section and all other pertinent provisions of this article,
and MIGA shall, upon the effective date of this article, automatically
succeed to all such preexisting contractual and other obligations,
without need for any further act or instrument, whether of assumption
or otherwise, in favor of any such third party beneficiary.
The Menominee Indian Gaming Authority is and shall remain a
subordinate, wholly owned instrumentality of the Tribe, which maintains
sole proprietary interest and responsibility for the gaming operation
(as defined in and conducted pursuant to the Charter). As a wholly
owned instrumentality of the Tribe, MIGA enjoys an autonomous existence.
Except as set forth in § 90-6 herein, the Tribe, in authorizing the establishment of MIGA by Charter, does not waive or limit the right of the Tribe to sovereign immunity from suit and authorizes MIGA to waive or limit its sovereign immunity from suit only as specifically provided for in the Charter. The issuance of the Charter does not waive or limit any exceptions and immunities from taxation to which the Tribe and its instrumentalities are or may in the future be entitled by law.
The Menominee Indian Gaming Authority shall conduct all gaming
and gaming-related businesses of the Menominee Indian Tribe that are
located on the Menominee Indian Reservation as defined by the 1854
Treaty and the Menominee Restoration Act ("Reservation") in accordance
with the Charter.[1]
A.
In order to further the goals of MIGA and to promote the independent
and successful operation of MIGA, neither the Tribal Legislature nor
any committee, agency, or other official body, and no office or official
of the Tribe, shall, by exercise of the police power or otherwise:
(1)
Impose or increase any tax, levy or other payment obligation on MIGA
or on any patrons of, or activity at, the gaming operation or on any
party to a contractual agreement with MIGA, other than:
(a)
Payment
obligations to fund the payment of fees imposed on the Tribe by the
National Indian Gaming Commission under the Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act (IGRA), Public Law 100-497, codified as 25 U.S.C. §§ 2701
and 2702, as amended from time to time;
(b)
Payment
obligations to fund the payment of any amounts payable by the Tribe
under the Compact;
(c)
Sales,
use, transient occupancy or excise taxes imposed by the Tribe where
such tax is billed as a separate item, provided that such tax is not
imposed at a rate higher than the tax that would be applied to similar
transactions in Menominee County, Wisconsin; and
(d)
Any
taxes, levies or payment obligations not prohibited by the terms of
any contractual agreement entered into by MIGA;
(2)
Amend the Constitution, the Compact, the Charter or this article
as in effect at the date of enactment of this article or take any
other action, enter into any agreement, or enact any ordinance, law,
rule or regulation if such amendment, agreement, action or enactment
would impair the contractual obligations of MIGA or would interfere
in any material respect with any right or remedy of a party to a contractual
agreement with MIGA, unless the Tribe is required to make such amendment
or take such action in order to comply with federal or state law or
such action is legitimately necessary to protect the integrity of
gaming conducted by MIGA;
(3)
Conduct or permit any other entity to conduct the gaming operation
within the Reservation other than through MIGA;
(4)
Dissolve, reorganize, restructure or rename MIGA, cause MIGA to cease
to be a wholly owned and controlled instrumentality of the Tribe or
restrict or eliminate the right or ability of MIGA to conduct all
of the gaming operation;
(5)
Incur any obligation with recourse to the gaming assets, other than
as permitted by the terms of any contractual agreement entered into
by MIGA;
(6)
Enact any bankruptcy law or similar law for the relief of debtors
that would impair, limit, restrict, delay or otherwise adversely affect
any of the rights and remedies of any party to a contractual agreement
with MIGA;
(7)
Exercise any power of eminent domain over the assets of MIGA or over
any property that is used or useful in connection with the operation
of the gaming operation other than for the purpose of causing it to
be real property dedicated for the use of MIGA;
(8)
Permit any lien, other than liens permitted by the terms of any contractual
agreement entered into by MIGA, to encumber any portion of the site
of the gaming operation or any property used by MIGA in the gaming
operation; or
(9)
Revoke, or attempt to revoke, any waiver of sovereign immunity granted
by MIGA.
B.
The Chairperson of the Menominee Tribal Legislature is authorized
to execute agreements with any person or entity party to a contractual
agreement entered into by MIGA allowing enforcement of this section
against the Tribe pursuant to binding arbitration, with enforcement
of any arbitrator's award through the Tribal Courts, as provided
in Article XVIII, Section 2 of the Constitution and Bylaws.
The Menominee Indian Gaming Authority is hereby granted authorization
to enter, use and operate the gaming operation, as defined in Section
5(e) of the Charter, on tribal lands within the Reservation, including
but not limited to lands title to which is held by the United States
in trust for the benefit of the Tribe and lands title to which is
held by the Tribe subject to restrictions by the United States against
alienation. Such authorization for MIGA to use and operate the gaming
operation on designated tribal lands shall remain in effect for so
long as the gaming operation remains in operation, and in any event
such authorization shall not expire earlier than 25 years from the
initial date of the enactment of this article, provided that MIGA's
authorization to use the tribal lands within the Reservation shall
be automatically extended for another twenty-five-year term, so long
as the Tribe does not provide notice to MIGA to the contrary at least
90 days prior to the expiration of the initial twenty-five-year term.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article or Charter,
MIGA is specifically not authorized to do any of the following:
A.
Negotiate or agree to any Class III Gaming Compact;
B.
Bind the Tribe through contract or otherwise;
C.
Create debt or other obligations outside the normal course of business
that would have the potential to significantly reduce the net revenues
transferred to the Tribe, unless the assumption of such debt or other
obligation is authorized by the Tribal Legislature by resolution;
D.
Enter into a management agreement or other agreement that would pay
any person or entity a percentage of the gaming operation revenue,
unless such agreement is authorized by the Tribal Legislature by resolution;
or
E.
Exercise any regulatory or legislative power or other governmental
powers, including but not limited to the power to grant, issue, revoke,
suspend or deny licenses and enact legislation regulating gaming on
the lands of the Tribe.
The funds distributed by MIGA to the general fund of the Tribe
in compliance with Section 9.02 of the Charter shall constitute the
"net revenues from gaming," "net gaming revenues," "gaming revenues,"
"revenues from Class III gaming," and "net revenues" as such terms
are used in the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Plan for the Use
of Net Revenue from Gaming, Resolution No. 93-40, adopted by the Menominee
Tribal Legislature on June 18, 1993, and approved by the United States
Department of the Interior on December 9, 1994 (the "plan"), which
are available for allocation and distribution under the plan.[1]
[Adopted 2-3-2005 by Ord. No. 04-55]
The purpose of this article is to delegate certain
governmental powers of the Menominee Indian Tribe to the Menominee
Kenosha Gaming Authority.
This delegation of governmental powers is done
pursuant to Article XIII, Section 4(a) of the Constitution and Bylaws
of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
The Menominee Indian Tribe delegates to the Menominee Kenosha Gaming Authority the power to enact, maintain, and enforce ordinances and regulations governing lands held in trust for the Menominee Indian Tribe located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that are substantially similar to those adopted by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin pursuant to Chapter 594, Kenosha Trust Lands, of this Code.
