(WSBT) The Four Winds Casino means a windfall for some local governments, but others feel they won't get their fair share.

Three members of a local revenue sharing board will determine who gets how much money from the casino. Officials with the City of New Buffalo are upset they don't have a vote on the board, and are now considering their options.

Estimates are the casino could pay out more than $4 million next year. Most of that money will go toward local governments and the schools. The other major chunk will go to public safety, paying for the increased enforcement the casino will require.

Representatives from New Buffalo Township and Berrien County chose the New Buffalo Schools to have the third seat on the board. One member says they made the decision because the schools stand to receive the highest percentage of money from the casino.

The city of New Buffalo had argued it would be impacted the most.

“I don't think there’s a question that we should get the third seat,” said Bob Westergren, mayor of New Buffalo. “Just drive around our community and you can see we're going to be the most impacted.”

New Buffalo Schools Superintendent Michael Lindley told WSBT News the district should have a seat because they're getting the largest chunk of the money.

He says school leaders have already discussed about how the money could be spent, including on technology, new day care services and new facilities down the road.

“Set some money aside if in fact we have to build new,” Dr. Lindley said. “Hopefully we've set aside enough dollars so that we don't have to go back to our public and say we need more money to add onto our building because of increased populations.”

Lindley said it doesn't matter who is on the board in the short-term, because the distributions are already laid out in a compact between the Pokagon Band and the State of Michigan.

“At some point in time, there will be some discretionary money,” Dr. Lindley said. “Once the payment in lieu of taxes and the public safety's taken care of, probably there will be some money used for discretion. That's when it will be important who's on the board.”

Lindley says because the schools are already getting a lot of money, he doesn't anticipate having to ask for more. So he thinks the municipalities that are not a part of the compact, including the City of New Buffalo, may be in line for more money.

Lindley says the schools have already seen a small increase in students because of casino workers who have moved to the area. New Buffalo leaders will have a meeting soon to determine what they will do next. Their options include filing a lawsuit.