I heard that Project Build a Future lent the charter schools $250,000 within the last year and a half. Is that true? If so, how does the group justify that, and what are the terms of the loan?

Tom Filo, secretary of the Project Build a Future board, said the group in June 2014 loaned the Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy Foundation $220,000 at 4.75 percent interest for five years.

The rate is the same as that being charged by a local bank to finance a charter school project, Filo said, and the loan involved formal documents and collateral.

“The justification for the loan is threefold: 1) Education and housing are two components for improving the quality of life,” Filo wrote in a statement forwarded to The Informer.

“Thus, the missions of the two groups complement one another. 2) The demographic served by the two organizations is similar. 3) Project Build A Future could not find an investment that would offer the same high yield on its assets, thus creating additional resources to convert to affordable housing.”

He said that taking advantage of such a high-yield return “creates greater assets to keep the cost of housing as low as possible.”

The partnership between Project Build a Future and the charter foundation, Filo said, benefits both groups. He said students from Lake Charles College Prep — a high school overseen by the charter foundation — are among the volunteers who support Project Build a Future.

The group was founded in 2001 to promote affordable housing initiatives.

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Online: http://projectbuildafuture.org.

State regulations set slots payout rate

Who monitors the payouts for slot machines at the riverboat casinos? How much are the machines supposed to give back, and how much do they give back?

State police enforce the state’s gambling regulations, which set payouts for casinos’ slot machines at between 80 percent and 99.9 percent of wagered amounts.

Payout percentages, along with the number of machines, for Lake Charles — i.e., Delta Downs, Golden Nugget, Isle of Capri and L’Auberge Casino Resort — for November 2016, according to the latest state police report:

Penny slots — 88.4 percent; 3,364 machines.

Two-cent slots — 90.2 percent; 48 machines.

Nickel slots — 93.8 percent; 117 machines.

Dime slots — 93.5 percent; 24 machines.

Quarter slots — 92.3 percent; 760 machines.

50-cent slots — 91.2 percent; 86 machines.

$1 slots — 92.4 percent; 1,179 machines.

$2 slots — 93.3 percent; four machines.

$5 slots — 93.2 percent; 203 machines.

$10 slots — 91.5 percent; 40 machines.

$25 slots — 93.7 percent; 55 machines.

$100 slots — 88.1 percent; 36 machines.

$500 slots — 89.4 percent; two machines.

Grand total — 90.7 percent; 5,918 machines.

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Online: www.lsp.org/gaming.

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The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.