TOPPENISH, Wash. (AP) - The Yakama Nation is suing the state of Washington for abandoning an agreement that allowed tribal gas station owners to buy bulk fuel, largely free of state fuel taxes, for sale to tribal members.

Tribal members are exempt from state fuel taxes, but the state requires tribes to keep accounts of sales to nontribal members. The state terminated the agreement Dec. 5, saying the Yakama Nation was not abiding by its audit requirements.

State Department of Licensing spokesman Brad Benfield told the Yakima Herald-Republic for a story Thursday that the state ended the agreement because mediation between the two sides failed after more than 180 days.

Tribal Council Chairman Harry Smiskin says the state negotiated in bad faith.

The tribe filed suit Dec. 6 in Yakama Tribal Court.

It's not profitable for the Tribe to track sales to their white/brown brethren. The Tribe will sue, and win.

Mf

Tribal court has limited ability to enforce decisions related to non tribal entities.

your wrong on this, tribes run under FERDERAL law. so yes MF is right. the injuns have very powerfull attorneys. they would not file a lawasuit unless they were certain they had the upper hand. injuns are not stupid these days!

Before this gas tax refund bs, the local tribal station had a sign on the pumps for tribal members to to swipe their tribal ID first. Kinda like the Safeway club card thing when you used to get .03 off. So tracking tribal and non-tribal purchases is pretty easy.
I no longer go there since the State began it's refunding of all their fuel so I don't know if this still hold true. I may go digging tonight or tomorrow and perhaps if I remember I'll drive through and see.

more

December 13, 2012


To: All AUTO members

Re: KOMO TV broadcast tonight

For those that missed it, KOMO TV out of Seattle did a feature on the
Yakamas suing the state to try and keep the approximate $25 million in
gas taxes that is owed the state. The broadcast includes an interview
with Reporter Tracy Vedder and the head of the Yakamas who claims the
1855 treaty says they don't have to fork over the gas tax even though
they signed the consent decree in federal court in 2006 promising to do
so if the state agreed to the program. The broadcast can be viewed on
your computer by
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Yakam...b=video&c=y


Interesting legal theory. Explains why they filed in "tribal court"
rather than back in federal court where they assured the judge they
would follow the rules if he approved the consent decree. Personally, if
I was in his shoes, I'd probably try to avoid having to appear before
the federal court as well. Now for a real insight into how the tribal
court appointed by the tribal council (entity responsible for the $25
million) actually works, here's a story about outlining problems with
the Yakamas tribal court in an independent publicationthat caters to
Native Americans.
http://www.indiancountrynews.info/fullstory.cfm-ID=395.htm

and more

After years of allowing the Yakama Nation to breach the audit terms of its agreement on fuel taxes, the WA state Department of Licensing (DOL) has notified the Yakamas it has finally had enough. In a notice to the Yakamas, the state pulled out of negotiations and mediation that has dragged on for years and terminated the agreement effective December 5, 2012 (attached).

A consent decree filed in federal court in 2006 was supposed to finally resolve the long-standing motor fuel tax litigation between the state and the Yakama Nation. Under the terms of the decree, fuel distributors supplying Yakama tribal stations began to discount the state tax on fuel delivery invoices by 75% or approximately 28 cents per gallon. The distributor would then take an equivalent credit off its monthly fuel tax report to DOL. Operating under a license from the tribal government, the station operators (they also signed the decree) were supposed to supply an accounting of the gallons delivered and forward the fuel tax discount provided them by the distributor on to the tribal government.

Each year an audit by DOL would estimate out how many gallons tribal members consumed. By subtracting the estimate of tribal member consumption from the actual amount delivered to the tribal stations, the number of gallons sold by the station operators to non-tribal members would be estimated. If 100% of the state tax rate on sales to non-tribal members was exceeded by the amount credited on the fuel delivery invoices, the tribal government would reimburse DOL for the difference. The tribal government then promised to spend the amount it retained on public roads within the reservation.

Tracking what has gone on during this negotiation process has been extremely difficult and frustrating. The Department of Licensing has used a mirage of confusing legal theories to justify cloaking the entire process under a blanket of secrecy. Public document requests by AUTO has resulted in some insights, even though DOL withheld or redacted scores of documents and nearly all the communications between it and the tribe. Primary reason given was the Department was in good faith negotiations that could eventually result in litigation. However, AUTO's persistence in pushing for access to public records allowed at least some limited insight.

Apparently, the tribal station operators never provided an accounting to the Yakama tribal government. Since the amount forwarded to the tribal government could be divided by 28 cents to estimate the gallons sold, the inability of the tribal government to account for the gallons raises the question of whether or not the tribal station operators actually passed the fuel tax discount on to the tribal government. While DOL acknowledged it could tell nearly exactly how much the state was owed from a review of the reports filed monthly by the delivering distributor, one side or the other apparently claimed the language in the consent decree required the calculation must be done soley based on an audit of the records provided to DOL by the tribal government. With the option of making the calculation off the delivery numbers from the distributor kicked to the curb, the Yakama tribal government apparently took the position it didn't have to give the money back at all. AUTO estimates the amount of fuel tax discounts owed back to the state by the Yakama Nation likely exceeds $25 million.

AUTO can find no evidence that the Yakamas have ever turned over a dime. The questions that seem to remain at this point are:

1). What actions can the state take to recover the taxpayers money?

2). Will the Governor's Office allow DOL to institute litigation to go after those millions that rightfully belong in the motor vehicle account dedicated to public roads?

3) If the state is successful in getting the money back, will the Yakama Nation government get stuck or can it go after its licensed station operators?

Embargo. Now.

Confiscate their fireworks.

Agreed! No state benefits, no road work, not a GD'd thing.

How dare the Indians not live up to an agreement with the government. The government has certainly honored every agreement they've made with the Indians! Oh wait...........

Special treatment for tribes = racism. Wrongs today do not change the past.

Then why bother if either side doesn't trust the other?