The bill is SB 5305 and from what I got yesterday and today is that this bill would exempt the tribal owned off reservation property just as county & state property from property tax. Cost is on 10 year projection ( based current holdings ) 6,753,000.

Now this is beside the compact that our Governor signed so they pay no taxes on gambling and gas taxes from tribal gas stations. The tribal campain donations are really paying off for them!

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5305&year=2011

Here's one that might make a few bucks for the State...

http://kuow.org/program.php?id=22556

Fish on...

Todd

Let's see now.....Tribal OWNED property would be tax exempt.
You had better see a LOT wrong with that whole idea if you don't want to see unfair competition take a huge bite out of legit business ventures.

I believe there was recently an issue with Great Wolf Lodge regarding this...No, I'm not going to look it up.

Late but I get it it would include industrial or anything. Tribal enterprises are wholly owned enterprises ( usually ) so they could by say a small mall chain and the entire mall complexes would be tax exempt. Hell just for the sake of to the extreme they could buy the Columbia Tower and would not have to pay property taxes on it.

The devil is in the details but the advantage in business ventures would be massive. Oh yeah Senator Swecker ( DS is R the other sponsor is D ) is Thurston County which happens to be where the Chehalis tribe is ( and Great Wolf I think ) I think. Surprise!

I believe that this would be because they are unable or do not want to put it into trust land. Seeing as how I have seen lots of trust land off reservation, this bill must be to take care of the rest. It most certainly is an unfair advantage. It also begs the question of why they would get services off without paying for them. Things like this are a big pet peeve of mine. I try to accept what they get through the treaty, but this is just a plain gimme. Imagine the loss to an area when they start buying up big commercial buildings. Take something like the White Cloud Hotel in Tacoma. Taxes per year are just over 143,300 a year. Imagine the disadvantage to its competitor besides the loss to the city. If the Puyallups wanted they could be buying 1 or 2 of these types properties a year without even blinking. If they leveraged at all they could end up bankrupting the city in a few years.

Here is the Great Wolf Lodge story and decision.

Well we've always known who the Queen's constituancy is. Union's and Tribe's.

Sure as hell aint fish and BroodBuster!

WOW! Do you realize that impact this can have? If the tribes don't pay property tax on any land they own they could buy up all the high tax value property and not pay tax on it. That tax revenue comes off the books for the county and/or city and now guess what.....the county/city still needs x number of dollars to maintain streets, pay cops, etc so now your property taxes are going to go way up!!! This won't only effect business it will effect anyone who owns property!

It is in reaction to the Great Wolf Lodge issue. Swecker is from Rochester, in between the Chehalis Tribe's casino and the GWL.

Tribes dont pay taxes because they are a government. Just like any city or county government. It wouldn't be any different than the county buying up right away or the city buying land for a new town hall or park.

However, the businesses which may or may not be owned by the tribe or tribal members have to pay taxes and income earned by the employees and owners of said businesses all pay taxes, so you can all pull your f*ckin' panties out of your manginas.

Everytime I hear some Cracker perpetuate the myth that "Injuns don't pay no taxes" it comes from some Redneck that 9 times out of 10 doesn't pay any themselves.

I agree...when a city annexes a piece of adjoining county land, I'm pretty sure they don't pay property taxes to the county...this is a similar situation.

Fish on...

Todd

Right, and that was the ruling, wasn't it? That GWL had to pay up.

Because the land is being used as a for-profit private enterprise, and not for public or administrative use.

So WTF's the beef? They're paying taxes on their business properties, just like Ports of Olympia, Tacoma & Seattle have to pay on their for-profit facilities....right?

So? It would just put them on equal footing with county and city government.

And it's not like we're talking a lot of scratch here. $6M for the entire state? $6M won't even buy a decent waterfront home.

The revenue these businesses bring in from sales and income taxes alone far outweighs that.

So what's the beef? Oh yeah...they aren't white.

"Private" and "government" business, when carried on by a tribe, is a very sketchy distinction to make...most everything is a government business, and the rest take place mainly thru the 'government business' status...

One thing's for sure...if there's any doubt or question about it, tribes and tribal members aren't going to be paying taxes, agreement or not.

Fish on...

Todd

Some tribes have an enterprise board, which is to run for profit businesses. And while the Chehalis Tribe/GWL partnership was ordered to pay up, they have yet to do so. On reservation, I have no issue. Off reservation, I have an issue with removing land from the tax rolls.

I heard this morning the Tulalip tribe gave 1.5 million to the local school district..kudos!

Bolt decision was stated, "in common with", so how does that mean a 45 day head start on ocean crab season. Tribes don't want equal treatment. They want "special" treatment.

You are correct Sol Duc--I think Chuck posted it--I dont think the Tribes own the property that the schools are on--but giving $1.26 Mill to the School District on top of the $1.3 for the community--not many other local business's giving amounts like that.



Tulalip Tribes give Marysville schools $1.26 million
Tribes boost academics in budget-crunched Marysville district
By Amy Daybert, Herald Writer

TULALIP — The Tulalip Tribes on Thursday gave $1.26 million to save programs suspended or ended by the cash-strapped Marysville School District.

The school district has been reeling since December when the state took away $250 million statewide for school funding. The Marysville School District’s slice of that was $2 million for this school year.

“We watched this, and we knew if there was a way to help we would like to stand up and be part of our larger community that helps out those in need,” said Melvin Sheldon, chairman of the Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors.

This is on top of what the tribes had already given to the school district. In past years, the tribes have given about $1.8 million annually for education initiatives.

The funds given Thursday will help the district provide science curriculum and professional development for middle schools; math materials, teacher training and two district math coaches; a new data system to track and analyze student achievement; cultural diversity training for staff; C squad sports teams at Marysville Getchell High School; and all-day kindergarten and teachers for kindergarten through third-grade to reduce class sizes at Tulalip and Quil Ceda Elementary Schools.

“I’ve been devastated by how our state has handled the budget crisis,” Marysville School Board member Darci Becker said. “It cut deeply into all schools’ budgets, but for us here in Marysville, it’s been very painful. I hope (students) can understand the gift that they have been given.”

The district will receive $860,000 followed by four quarterly payments making up the remaining balance over the next year.

“It’s huge for academics, it plugs that hole,” Superintendent Larry Nyland said.

The donation does not resolve all the district’s financial troubles, Nyland added. The district has cut $1.4 million in this year’s budget and still has about $900,000 more to go, he said.

Layoffs could still occur, although the school district hopes to cut vacant positions.

And the funds will not help varsity sports start in this fall at the new Marysville Getchell High School.

“We have to continue to talk about how to close the rest of the gap,” Nyland said.

The Tulalip Tribe Board of Directors initially looked at funding varsity sports teams at Marysville Getchell High School but decided to focus instead on stemming educational cuts that were happening throughout the district, board member Glen Gobin said.

“Our original intent was to fund Getchell sports then we got deeper ... and it very quickly became apparent that the money needed to go into the education part,” Gobin said.

Jaylen Fryberg, 11, was one of four fifth-graders from Tulalip Elementary who attended the award presentation. Four third-graders from Quil Ceda Elementary were also in attendance.

He was happy some money would go toward his favorite subject — math.

“It’s nice,” he said. “We get a lot of money for our schools.”

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, Nyland and Marysville school board members Becker, Tom Albright and Wendy Fryberg were among those who thanked the Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors during a presentation of the award at the Tulalip Tribal Center.

The 11,000-student school district’s boundaries include Tulalip and Marysville.

This seems to be a direct result of the Great Wolf Lodge ruling, as it is a change to the requirement that the usage be exclusively governmental. That is, the tribe was already exempt for those properties used exclusively for tribal government, as well as any non-profit community centers and such.
While the law may be limiting in its scope to deal with taxes and state a goal of making it on par with regular govermental treatment, the fact that tribal properties are for profit make them a totallly different entity. There is no comparision as they have two entirely different purposes. I find it odd that the same bill exempts foreign governments on property held for consuls and other such governmental offices. Why would we treat the tribes differently?

A bigger question that may arise is whether the treatment of non-trust land the same as trust land will also negate the requrement to meet local standards and requirements in terms of zoning and off-site improvements. This seems to me to be the logical next step for the tribe to head. The state decides to treat non-reservation land the same as reservation land if its tribal owned. Then let the tribe determine zoning, building requirements and such, subject perhaps only to federal juridiction. Since its not required to apply for trust status, then the land could be for any use and all uses without any public input.

There is already a law in effect that grants the tribes what they want. This is specifically for properties that will not me the political snuff to be put into trust land. A bad law, one that is not needed, and one that patently provides an unfair advantage to one sector of society over another.

On one corner is a Rvrfshr store, kitty corner is Joe's Store, they sell the same kind of product, both stay in business because they are on an equal footing for taxes and utilities. Edgar buys Joe's and because of a change in the laws Edgar no longer has to pay real estate taxes. 2 years later Rvrfshr is out of business, no longer able to compete.