JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi lawmakers are moving to resolve a dispute over lease payments for Gulf Coast waterfront property occupied by a casino.
The House has approved House Bill 5 , which would allow Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann to pay $1.59 million to the owners of Biloxi’s Point Cadet, which is now leased by the Golden Nugget casino.
The city of Biloxi would get $606,000, while the College Board and the state tidelands fund would each get $494,000. That formula follows a 2002 court settlement. Biloxi officials had asked a judge to order payment, but city spokesman Vincent Creel says the bill should end the dispute.
Lease payments stopped after lawmakers took the money in 2016 as part of a larger sweep of accounts.
Hosemann says he doesn’t expect the problem to recur.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
