TEMECULA -- New deals with four casino-operating Indian tribes ratified last month by state legislators give Temecula officials significantly better odds of getting the Pechanga tribe to ante up millions of dollars to offset the impacts of the casino on the city.

Temecula now gets about $2.7 million a year from a statewide fund designed to help cities deal with the impacts casinos have on nearby communities, but the new agreements open the door to much more. Because the affected cities and counties have to sign off before any expansion can take place, Temecula is in a stronger position to negotiate, said city officials designated to lead those talks.

Temecula City Councilmen Ron Roberts and Mike Naggar will act as the liaisons between the council and the tribe. Naggar said that when members of the city and the tribe finally meet, he would like to discuss the costs associated with a proposed interchange off Interstate 15 and Rainbow Canyon Road that would relieve traffic on Highway 79 South, an additional crossing over Temecula Creek and the impact the casino has on law enforcement.

"We are looking at the negotiations in two manners," said Naggar. "First, the impacts that exist today and how they are being mitigated. Second, the impacts of future developments, although we don't know what those expansion plans will be."

Naggar said both groups will need to strike a balance to coexist.

"Good relationships always work better than bad ones," Naggar said. "However, as diligent (as) the tribe is in protecting its interests, we, the city, will be just as diligent in protecting our citizens' interests."

If the two sides can't reach a consensus, there is a provision for binding arbitration in which a third party will review and set the terms of the agreement.

Pechanga Resort & Casino has 2,000 slot machines, the maximum allowed under state law. But the revised deal the Legislature approved will allow the tribe to add as many as 5,500 more.

What the tribe's actual plans are, however, remains unknown. Several meetings between the city and tribal officials have been canceled, with the next effort tentatively set for Aug. 31, Naggar said. Scheduling conflicts on both sides are making it hard to arrange the initial sit-down, said Aaron Adams, Temecula's assistant city manager.

Tribal officials also have not responded to numerous requests for information from The Californian.

When the two sides ultimately get together, two questions will have to be answered: What kind of cash will Temecula be looking for to sign off on the agreement? And how will that request be received by Pechanga officials?

In April, the city sent Pechanga a letter, prepared by Temecula City Attorney Peter Thorson, saying it would be asking $15 million per year for infrastructure improvements, and $3 million a year for police and public safety services.

However, city officials now say those numbers were "preliminary" and staff members are re-examining how much they believe would be needed to offset the impact the casino has on Temecula, both now and after any potential expansions.

"Once those negotiations commence, we will have a better handle on their plans and that will assist us in determining a price tag for infrastructure and police costs," said Adams.

The city has suggested in draft agreements that it will be asking for more money from the Pechanga for additional law enforcement, fire protection and emergency medical services.

The city also identified four major road improvements that it thinks the tribe should help pay for: a new four-lane road from Rainbow Canyon Road to the casino, south of the Temecula Creek Inn; the construction of a new interchange on I-15 south of Highway 79 South; reconfiguring the interchange at Highway 79 South; and adding two right-turn lanes from eastbound Highway 79 South onto southbound Pechanga Parkway.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the new agreements July 11, allowing four of the state's richest Indian tribes to expand their casino operations in exchange for paying the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually in taxes. Pechanga's agreement calls for a contribution of $42.5 million each year into the state's treasury, up from $29 million under the current arrangement. It also would pay 15 percent to 25 percent of the winnings from each additional machine.

Combined, the deals will allow the tribes to install nearly 17,000 new slot machines and other table games. In addition to Pechanga, the governor approved deals with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in Cabazon, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians near Palm Springs and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation east of San Diego.

More than 50 California tribes already operate 58,120 slot machines across the state and took in an estimated $7.7 billion in revenue last year.

Earlier this month, San Diego County approved a deal with the Pala band allowing that tribe to expand its casino 10 miles south of Temecula -- a deal that will bring that county $38 million to improve stretches of Highway 76, and more than $400,000 a year for law enforcement, criminal prosecution and gambling-addiction treatment services.

The Pala have been one of the most outspoken opponents of the deals struck by the Riverside County tribes, which the Pala believe allow too much expansion and give the state too much oversight.

Pala has put $500,000 into a campaign designed to force a public vote on those new compacts. The campaign is being spearheaded by a hotel- and service-workers union, which wants the right to organize casino employees, and by a coalition of racetrack owners.

Supporters of the initiative need to collect 434,000 signatures by Oct. 8 to put the question on the ballot in February.

Contact staff writer Nicole Sack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or nsack@californian.com. Comment at www.californian.com.