Artist rendering of the Ho Chunk Wittenberg hotel and casino
The owners of North Star Mohican Casino and Resort in Bowler are threatening to withhold nearly $1 million in payments to the state in response to expansion plans by Ho-Chunk Gaming in Wittenberg.
The Stockbridge-Munsee tribe argues that by allowing the $33 million expansion of the Ho-Chunk Wittenberg site, the state is allowing Ho-Chunk to violate their gaming compact from 2003, which required that any gaming facility in Shawano County owned by Ho-Chunk would be secondary and could not produce more than 50 percent of the revenue of an entire enterprise.
The state Department of Administration declared in September that, in their view, the Ho-Chunk expansion does not violate the compact.
Stockbridge-Munsee President Shannon Holsey said, “We have tried to resolve these issues directly; now we are being forced to pursue all legal remedies available to protect our 1,200 tribal members, hundreds of employees and the various local organizations who rely on our support, such as the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department, area towns and municipalities, the Bowler and Gresham School Districts, and local parks departments.”
WSAU