Indian gaming grant funds available
More than $268,000 in grant funding is available to counties, cities and special districts impacted by tribal gaming.
The Tulare County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee, charged with selecting the grant recipients, is seeking grant applications from interested parties.
Senate Bill 621, which was passed in 2004, makes the grant funding available from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. Gaming tribes that operated 200 or more gaming devices on or before September 1999 contribute a variable portion of their net winnings into the fund.
In Tulare County, the Tule River Tribe contributes winnings, and must sponsor the grants and affirm that the proposed grant projects have a reasonable relationship to the impacts of their gaming facility.
The committee has posted the application forms, selection criteria, and other materials on its website at http://co.tulare.ca.us/government/iglcbc/default.asp.
Applications must be submitted to the committee no later than March 16 in order to be considered.
To be considered, a grant proposal must fall into one of two categories: 60 percent of available funds are Nexus Grants, which must meet specific criteria. Non-Nexus or discretionary grants representing 40 percent of the total funding are also available.
The committee will evaluate grant proposals and weigh their merits based on state guidelines that give priority to law enforcement; fire services; emergency medical services; roads; public health; recreation and youth programs; waste disposal and water supplies; child care programs; mitigating environmental impacts and behavioral health.
Last year, the City of Porterville, county of Tulare, and Sierra View District Hospital received funding to repair Reservation Road, make improvements to the police department firing range and fire department training facility, and purchase upgraded mobile medical computer carts.
Completed grant applications should be mailed to Helen Herrera, IGLCBC staff member at 2800 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia, CA 93291.
For questions about the grant process, Herrera can be reached at 636-5000.
