It’s been seven months since the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida purchased 25 acres of land in DeFuniak Springs, and the county still has no update regarding what the tribe plans to build.
JJ Harris, CEO of the Wonderful Walton Economic Development Alliance, said the Miccosukee Tribe has not coordinated with Walton County or relayed any plans.
“Typically, if they don’t call us, then we kind of learn about it through planning,” he said. “Not seeing anything through planning.”
Without any updates, residents can only speculate about what the tribe might build over 25 acres. The most widely-rumored option is a casino, similar to the Miccosukee Casino & Resort near Miami.
The South Florida casino is the Miccosukee Tribe’s primary source of revenue, helping the tribe to operate a police force, medical clinic, education system and more for its members.
However, experts believe a casino wouldn’t be the highest-revenue source for Walton County.
Potential impacts of a Miccosukee Casino on Walton County
Nicole Gislason is the executive director of the Haas Center at the University of West Florida, which conducts research and economic impact modeling for the region. She looked at the potential impacts a Miccosukee casino could have on Walton County. She explained the nuances of job opportunities, tax revenue effects, tourism, and negative effects a casino could have on Walton County.
Job opportunities
Whatever the tribe builds will bring job opportunities to the area. Gislason compared the effects of 100 new jobs in the casino/resort industry with those of 100 new jobs in the aerospace/manufacturing industry.
“Let’s make the wild assumption that this casino just appears magically overnight, and people go to work immediately,” Gislason said. “Then that has a ripple effect in the economy, adding about 36 more jobs in addition to those directly employed. So you can imagine that you’re going to have individuals in a variety of occupations supporting that facility, and so that can include cleaning services, plumbing services, utilities of all shapes and sizes.”
Gislason said the ripple effect would create jobs in other industries as well, including “the banking sector, legal sector, medical, teachers, etc.”
“The same, however, can be said for manufacturing, and so when you compare those 30-ish jobs added by a casino to aerospace, we’re looking at 100 direct jobs in a different industry that brings us 49 additional high-wagehigh wage jobs.”
Gislason said jobs created by a manufacturing facility or similar operation would pay more than those at a casino.
“100 jobs in manufacturing doubles the total economic output,” she said. “The reason I bring this up: acreage for manufacturing is a scarce resource, even in a county like Walton, where we see a lot of pine trees and palmetto bushes. There’s not a lot of opportunity to expand our, say, military industrial base, our manufacturing base in Northwest Florida, and still preserve space for residents to enjoy the natural resources.”
Gislason concludes a casino would not be the best use of that land for Walton County.
“When I think about the options before us in any community across Northwest Florida, I think about what’s the best use of that scarce land, and so while a casino will add jobs, it will not add as many jobs as another type of facility that can go on the same land.”
Tax revenue
With the potential loss of property tax revenue in mind, Walton County needs to consider the tax revenue a casino could generate.
“The tax revenue from casinos could potentially exceed the tax revenue from a manufacturing facility, but keep in mind this is a tribal organization and their tax structure will not be the same as the tax structure for a traditional for-profit entity that my model looks at,” Gislason said.
Tribes do not pay income tax — but Florida does not impose income tax on individuals anyway, so this isn’t much of a hit to potential county revenue.
The landmark case Seminole Tribe of Florida v. State of Florida determined tribal lands held in trust by the government are not typically subject to property tax. However, since the land in question was sold to the Miccosukee Tribe by Walton County and isn’t preserved tribal land, anything built there will be subject to property tax — Unless the tribe decides to seek federal trust status.
Tourism revenue
A casino could attract gamblers to Walton County, an area which already benefits greatly from tourist dollars.
Gislason said it’s nearly impossible to predict the potential tourism tax revenue a casino could provide to Walton County. Still, she looked at a nearby county and concluded it probably wouldn’t be enough to make a significant difference.
“There has been a very small gaming operation in Ebro, which is about 45 minutes from Walton County, DeFuniak Springs, and that’s been in operation for a while,” Gislason said. “I think they have some type of online gambling, and you know, I don’t consider Ebro a mecca for tourists, right? So there’s that comparison, but that’s a pretty meager comparison on my part.”
Potential costs to Walton County residents
As with any local project, the county will weigh the pros and cons of a casino should the Miccosukee Tribe decide to use the land that way. Gislason said the costs to residents wouldn’t just be monetary.
“This is not a knock on tourism, but think about the congestion on Highway 98.”
Gislason said a tourism draw, such as a casino, would increase traffic congestion in the area.
“Manufacturing creates jobs at a very specific location,” she said. “The sheer volume of automobiles going in and out of a manufacturing facility is minuscule compared to that of any type of resort, so I would be concerned if I were a resident that congestion will move farther to the north of Walton County.”
Some residents also fear a casino would heighten crime rates in Walton County. However, a study by the National Institute of Justice found this isn’t necessarily true.
According to the study, “casinos do not have any systemic effect on crime, with the possible exception of larceny, liquor violations, and prostitution; however, when analyzing crime rates adjusted for the population at risk, even these crimes are not statistically different between the casino and control communities.”
In conclusion
To conclude, Gislason discussed the factors most important for the Miccosukee Tribe and Walton County to consider before beginning construction on the 25-acre land parcel.
“I would first want to know exactly the types of tax benefits the county will receive, and do those benefits outweigh the costs of congestion and other issues, maybe some of which are social issues, right? If the tax benefit outweighs the social cost or the congestion, perhaps that tax benefit will offset some of those challenges — They’ll have to weigh those challenges and take a vote.”
Gislason also emphasizes that this is all speculation, as Walton County has not responded to her inquiries about collaborating on a full economic analysis.
“[The tribe] might want to build a water park there,” she said. “It may not be a casino; it might be something vastly different that complements some of the other activity that’s underway right there. … If I were an elected official there, I would talk with them about the other options that could also bring in revenue for the tribe, provide meaningful careers for their members, and then also help and complement the community, so there could be a win-win situation that may or may not involve a casino.”
