(a) The Controller, acting in consultation with the California Gambling Control Commission, shall divide the County Tribal Casino Account for each county that has gaming devices that are subject to an obligation to make contributions to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund into a separate account for each tribe that operates a casino within the county. These accounts shall be known as Individual Tribal Casino Accounts, and funds may be released from these accounts to make grants selected by an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee pursuant to the method established by this section to local jurisdictions impacted by tribal casinos. Each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall be funded in proportion to the amount that each individual tribe paid in the prior fiscal year to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund.
(b) (1) There is hereby created in each county in which Indian gaming is conducted an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee. The selection of all grants from each Individual Tribal Casino Account or County Tribal Casino Account shall be made by each county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee. In selecting grants, the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee shall follow the priorities established in subdivision (g) and the requirements specified in subdivision (h). This committee has the following additional responsibilities:
(A) Establishing all application policies and procedures for grants from the Individual Tribal Casino Account or County Tribal Casino Account. Each grant application shall clearly show how the grant will mitigate the impact of the casino on the grant applicant.
(B) Assessing the eligibility of applications for grants from local jurisdictions impacted by tribal gaming operations.
(C) Determining the appropriate amount for reimbursement from the aggregate county tribal account of the demonstrated costs incurred by the county for administering the grant programs. The reimbursement for county administrative costs may not exceed 2 percent of the aggregate county tribal account in any given fiscal year.
(2) Except as provided in Section 12715.5, the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee shall be composed of seven representatives, consisting of the following:
(A) Two representatives from the county, selected by the county board of supervisors.
(B) Three elected representatives from cities located within four miles of a tribal casino in the county, selected by the county board of supervisors. In the event that there are no cities located within four miles of a tribal casino in the county, other local representatives may be selected upon mutual agreement by the county board of supervisors and a majority of the tribes paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund in the county. When there are no cities within four miles of a tribal casino in the county, and when the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee acts on behalf of a county where no tribes pay into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, other local representatives may be selected upon mutual agreement by the county board of supervisors and a majority of the tribes operating casinos in the county. However, if only one city is within four miles of a tribal casino and that same casino is located entirely within the unincorporated area of that particular county, only one elected representative from that city shall be included on the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee.
(C) Two representatives selected upon the recommendation of a majority of the tribes paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund in each county. When an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee acts on behalf of a county where no tribes pay into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, the two representatives may be selected upon the recommendation of the tribes operating casinos in the county.
(c) Sixty percent of each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall be available for nexus grants on a yearly basis to cities and counties impacted by tribes that are paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, according to the four-part nexus test described in paragraph (1). Grant awards shall be selected by each county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and shall be administered by the county. Grants may be awarded on a multiyear basis, and these multiyear grants shall be accounted for in the grant process for each year.
(1) A nexus test based on the geographical proximity of a local government jurisdiction to an individual Indian land upon which a tribal casino is located shall be used by each county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee to determine the relative priority for grants, using the following criteria:
(A) Whether the local government jurisdiction borders the Indian lands on all sides.
(B) Whether the local government jurisdiction partially borders Indian lands.
(C) Whether the local government jurisdiction maintains a highway, road, or other thoroughfare that is the predominant access route to a casino that is located within four miles.
(D) Whether all or a portion of the local government jurisdiction is located within four miles of a casino.
(2) Fifty percent of the amount specified in subdivision (c) shall be awarded in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions that meet all four of the nexus test criteria in paragraph (1). If no eligible local government jurisdiction satisfies this requirement, the amount specified in this paragraph shall be made available for nexus grants in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions meeting the requirements of paragraph (3) or (4).
(3) Thirty percent of the amount specified in subdivision (c) shall be awarded in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions that meet three of the nexus test criteria in paragraph (1). If no eligible local government jurisdiction satisfies this requirement, the amount specified in this paragraph shall be made available for nexus grants in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions meeting the requirements of paragraph (2) or (4).
(4) Twenty percent of the amount specified in subdivision (c) shall be awarded in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions that meet two of the nexus test criteria in paragraph (1). If no eligible local government jurisdiction satisfies this requirement, the amount specified in this paragraph shall be made available for nexus grants in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions meeting the requirements of paragraph (2) or (3).
(d) Twenty percent of each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall be available for discretionary grants to local jurisdictions impacted by tribes that are paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. These discretionary grants shall be made available to all local jurisdictions in the county irrespective of any nexus to impacts from any particular tribal casino, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c). Grant awards shall be selected by each county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and shall be administered by the county. Grants may be awarded on a multiyear basis, and these multiyear grants shall be accounted for in the grant process for each year.
(e) (1) Twenty percent of each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall be available for discretionary grants to local jurisdictions impacted by tribes that are not paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. These grants shall be made available to local jurisdictions in the county irrespective of any nexus to impacts from any particular tribal casino, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), and irrespective of whether the impacts presented are from a tribal casino that is not paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. Grant awards shall be selected by each county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and shall be administered by the county. Grants may be awarded on a multiyear basis, and these multiyear grants shall be accounted for in the grant process for each year.
(A) Grants awarded pursuant to this subdivision are limited to addressing service-oriented impacts and providing assistance with one-time large capital projects related to Indian gaming impacts.
(B) Grants shall be subject to the sole sponsorship of the tribe that pays into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund and the recommendations of the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee for that county.
(2) If an eligible county does not have a tribal casino operated by a tribe that does not pay into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, the moneys available for discretionary grants under this subdivision shall be available for distribution pursuant to subdivision (d).
(f) (1) For each county that does not have gaming devices subject to an obligation to make payments to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, funds may be released from the county’s County Tribal Casino Account to make grants selected by the county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee pursuant to the method established by this section to local jurisdictions impacted by tribal casinos. These grants shall be made available to local jurisdictions in the county irrespective of any nexus to any particular tribal casino. These grants shall follow the priorities specified in subdivision (g) and the requirements specified in subdivision (h).
(2) Funds not allocated from a county tribal casino account by the end of each fiscal year shall revert back to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. Moneys allocated for the 2003–04 fiscal year shall be eligible for expenditure through December 31, 2004.
(g) The following uses shall be the priorities for the receipt of grant moneys from Individual Tribal Casino Accounts: law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, environmental impacts, water supplies, waste disposal, behavioral, health, planning and adjacent land uses, public health, roads, recreation and youth programs, and child care programs.
(h) In selecting grants pursuant to subdivision (b), an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee shall select only grant applications that mitigate impacts from casinos on local jurisdictions. If a local jurisdiction uses a grant selected pursuant to subdivision (b) for any unrelated purpose, the grant shall terminate immediately and any moneys not yet spent shall revert to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. If a local jurisdiction approves an expenditure that mitigates an impact from a casino on a local jurisdiction and that also provides other benefits to the local jurisdiction, the grant selected pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be used to finance only the proportionate share of the expenditure that mitigates the impact from the casino.
(i) All grants from Individual Tribal Casino Accounts shall be made only upon the affirmative sponsorship of the tribe paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund from whose Individual Tribal Casino Account the grant moneys are available for distribution. Tribal sponsorship shall confirm that the grant application has a reasonable relationship to a casino impact and satisfies at least one of the priorities listed in subdivision (g). A grant may not be made for any purpose that would support or fund, directly or indirectly, any effort related to the opposition or challenge to Indian gaming in the state, and, to the extent any awarded grant is utilized for any prohibited purpose by any local government, upon notice given to the county by any tribe from whose Individual Tribal Casino Account the awarded grant went toward that prohibited use, the grant shall terminate immediately and any moneys not yet used shall again be made available for qualified nexus grants.
(j) A local government jurisdiction that is a recipient of a grant from an Individual Tribal Casino Account or a County Tribal Casino Account shall provide notice to the public, either through a slogan, signage, or other mechanism, stating that the local government project has received funding from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund and further identifying the particular Individual Tribal Casino Account from which the grant derives.
(k) (1) Each county’s Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee shall submit to the Controller a list of approved projects for funding from Individual Tribal Casino Accounts. Upon receipt of this list, the Controller shall release the funds directly to the local government entities for which a grant has been approved by the committee.
(2) Funds not allocated from an Individual Tribal Casino Account by the end of each fiscal year shall revert back to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. Moneys allocated for the 2003–04 fiscal year shall be eligible for expenditure through December 31, 2004. Moneys allocated for the 2008–09 fiscal year shall be eligible for expenditure through December 31, 2009.
(l) Notwithstanding any other law, a local government jurisdiction that receives a grant from an Individual Tribal Casino Account shall deposit all funds received in an interest-bearing account and use the interest from those funds only for the purpose of mitigating an impact from a casino. If any portion of the funds in the account is used for any other purpose, the remaining portion shall revert to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. As a condition of receiving further funds under this section, a local government jurisdiction, upon request of the county, shall demonstrate to the county that all expenditures made from the account have been in compliance with the requirements of this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 704, Sec. 1. (AB 2515) Effective January 1, 2013. Repealed as of January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 12718.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018