The Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are baffled at how poorly the budgeting for Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort has gone. The Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise have gone to them hat in hand, asking for an additional $50 million for the project, and they got grilled for it.

The Cherokee, North Carolina casino has been under construction for two years now, with a $250 million expansion planned. But at an October 26 Tribal Council meeting, representatives could not grasp why $50 million more was needed, when the project was initially only supposed to cost $200 million. “I’d like to see something justifying why we’re giving you $38 more million for this project,” said Birdtown Representative Albert Rose during the Oct. 26 meeting. “This is a huge amount of money for just a simple resolution coming in here asking for it.”

TCGE Board Member John Houser admitted the initial estimate of a $200-250 million expansion wasn’t well thought out. “The schematic for the plans for this project were pretty much done on the back of a napkin,” Houser said. “It was a concept.”

The TCGE explained their new estimate was the project would cost $37.9 million more than planned, mysteriously putting the total cost at $296.9 million. However, $250 million plus $37.9 million does not add up to that sum.