No lawsuits have been filed yet, but it appears another legal situation involving the Gun Lake Casino may be brewing on the horizon.

Recent news that the Hopkins Township Board has hired high-powered attorney Thaddeus Morgan of Lansing to craft a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, is stoking speculation the Gun Lake Tribe of Potawatomis may be challenged legally about the way local revenue sharing is disbursed. This, after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year finally put an end to the lengthy lawsuit by David Patchak and unnamed financial backers.

The Hopkins Township Board has made clear its displeasure about the Gun Lake Tribe’s request earlier this year to federal authorities to take into trust a 130-acre parcel of land near the corner of 129^th Avenue and 12^th Street. The board voted 4-1 to oppose the move and in a special meeting at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 4, voted unanimously to enter into contract with Morgan, a highly regarded attorney with the firm of Fraser Trebilcock. Morgan will be paid $320 per hour and a retainer fee of $2,500.

Hopkins Township Clerk Eric Alberda said the funds to pay Morgan will come out of the township’s general fund.

Tribal officials are contending that Hopkins Township is wasting public money on a losing cause because the U.S. Department of Interior probably won’t weigh in on the issue of local revenue sharing disbursement.

Township officials, however, report the immediate concern is the loss of local property tax revenue if the parcel is taken into trust for use by a sovereign nation. Township Supervisor Mark Evans at first indicated a loss of up to $100,000 per year, which would severely harm local public services such as roads and police and fire protection.

James Nye, public relations specialist with the tribe, countered that the parcel, zoned commercial but currently used for farming, is taxed for $33,000 annually, and of that figure, only about $400 goes to the township.

The land is the second instance in the township in which the tribe has taken it into trust. The other is the Jijak Foundation camp, but that was purchased several years ago from Mel Trotter Ministries, which also did not pay taxes on the property.

There is speculation that Morgan, on behalf of the township, may try to call into question the legality of way local revenue sharing from casino receipts is disbursed. Some sources familiar with the developing situation suggest the disbursements are not properly following regulations.

The Gun Lake Tribe in 2007 agreed to a gaming compact with the State of Michigan that included the stipulation that 2% of its casino revenue be provided to local municipalities affected by its business. That revenue was to be determined by a local revenue sharing board that would include a representative from the county, the township, village or city in which the casino exists, a neighboring municipality and three tribal members.

Total distributions and receipts for 2016 were $3,659,455. They were distributed semi-annually in two payments.

The breakdown was as follows:

• Administrative costs — $13,434.
• Allegan Area Educational Services Agency (AAESA) — $270,756.
• Allegan County — $717,854.
• Wayland Area Emergency Medical Services (WAEMS) — $8,221.
• Wayland Township — $831,365.
• Wayland Union Schools — $1,638.395.
• The City of Wayland and the Townships of Dorr, Hopkins, Leighton, Martin and Yankee Springs — $29,905 apiece.

Those figures increased slightly in 2017 to reflect about $30,000 annually for each of the townships other than Wayland.

The U.S. Department of the Interior granted Hopkins Township an extension until June 30 for its response to the tribe’s request. The matter is being evaluated, but nothing official has been reported.