In Wisconsin, gambling revenues at the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino for the twelve months to the end of July reportedly inched up by only about 1.5% year-on-year to hit approximately $400 million.

According to a report from the local Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, the Milwaukee casino owned by the Forest County Potawatomi Community raked in net win of about $395 million for the previous twelve-month period while 2015’s figure topped out at around $390 million.

“The growth is slow by historical standards but at least it’s growing again; at least it’s not declining,” Mark Nichols, an economics professor at the University of Nevada, Reno reportedly told the newspaper.

The federally-recognized Forest County Potawatomi Community also runs the smaller Potawatomi Carter Casino Hotel some 200 miles to the north near the town of Wabeno and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that this venue saw its gambling revenues drop by about 3% year-on-year for the twelve months to the end of July of 2014.

Unlike commercial casino operators, the newspaper reported that each of the eleven casino-operating tribes in Wisconsin is permitted to keep the exact amounts won at their slot machines and gaming tables confidential. The latest figure comes from a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel estimate that was calculated based upon payments the tribe made to state and local governments as part of its compact.

As such, the newspaper reported that the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County each received payments of $5.66 million last month, which compared with $5.57 million last year and $5.41 million in 2015. But, the annual net win figure was purportedly calculated only after the tribe’s disbursement of about $25 million to the state had been deducted.

“[The] 1.5% increase in our annual city and county payments indicate a flat-to-modest increase in year-on-year revenues,” Ryan Amundson, a spokesperson for the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino, reportedly told the newspaper. “Those numbers are in line with gaming revenue trends in the Midwest and further reflect a mature regional market.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel moreover reported that the Forest County Potawatomi Community is hoping that the planned addition of a new hotel tower with some 119 extra rooms will help its Potawatomi Hotel and Casino increase gambling revenues moving forward. The current venue already offers 381 rooms but the tribe is planning to spend around $80 million to open the 19-story addition by 2019 complete with a spa and additional conference spaces.

“The additional rooms and suites will allow us to accommodate more gaming guests within the regional market,” Amundson reportedly told the newspaper.