In 2009 the St. Louis County board voted not to put for sale the lands requested by Fond du Lac. This move brought deep dissent from many in the community who understood the action to be offensive to the Native Americans in our community.
Commissioner Fink Reported to the board regarding a proposed resolution of NACO
RESOLUTION TO CREATE A NEW PROGRAM TO PAY COUNTIES IN LIEU OF LOST
4 PROPERTY TAX REVENUE FROM TRIBALLY OWNED LANDS AND PROPERTY HELD IN
5 TRUST BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
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7 Issue: Counties are unable to collect property taxes on Indian properties held in trust by the Federal
8 Government.
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10 Adopted policy: NACo supports the creation of a new Federal program that would reimburse county and local
11 government for lost property taxes incurred due to Indian properties held in trust by the federal government.
12 Funding allocations shall not negatively impact the payment in Lieu of Taxes program (31 U.S.C. Chapter 69).
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14 Background: The federal government declares to have a trust responsibility for Indians. This trust relationship
15 includes holding title to properties in their names for their benefit. These properties are exempt from state and
16 local taxation. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 allows certain Indian tribes and individuals that are
17 Native American, to convert privately owned lands in fee status to trust status. Fee lands are under the
18 jurisdiction of the State, county, and local governments, and as such are taxable by county and local
19 governments.
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21 Trust properties have title held by the federal government, are under federal oversight, and are not taxable by
22 county and local governments. County and local governments provide essential services to all citizens,
23 including citizens that are tribal members, whether the land on which they reside is taxable or not. Those
24 services include, but are not limited to; road construction and maintenance, law enforcement, State and county
25 welfare services, emergency services, and services provided by all county offices. Taxes collected by the
26 county also maintain the properties of the county for all citizens to enjoy, and pay the wages of elected county
27 officials, many of whom are Native American. Indian tribes and Indian individuals throughout the country own
28 trust lands and properties with title held by the federal government and are continuing to apply to the U.S.
29 Department of the Interior to get additional fee lands placed into trust with the federal government.
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31 Property improvements, such as businesses and homes located on trust land are not taxable by counties and local
32 governments. This creates financial hardship on counties and local governments, as they must continue to
33 provide quality services with less revenue. This also creates an unfair tax burden on citizens that are not Indian
34 and cannot qualify per lack of tribal membership to remove their land from county and local taxation. Due to
35 the loss in tax revenue created by federal law, county governments are forced to set levies higher. Some
36 counties with large amounts of trust properties are already at the maximum levy allowed by state law.
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38 Existing law fails to address the financial burden to counties governments when land is removed from county
39 and local taxation. Although the tax impact is among the criteria for the U.S. Department of the Interior to
40 consider before taking land into trust, it rarely is the cause for denying trust applications.
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42 Fiscal/Urban/Rural Impacts: Adoption of such a program would lead to potential increases in county general
43 fund levels that would allow for greater availability of county services to the community.
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45 Adopted by NACo Board of Directors
46 March 9, 2009
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Resources for learning more about Native American People
Click to hear the Speakers:: Our people feel disrespected. … Our right to own our own land is being disrespected,” said Ricky DeFoe, a Fond du Lac member and co-chairman of the Duluth American Indian Commission, Click to hear : Fond Dul Lac Band Chairwoman Karen Diver and Representatives of the Leageu of Women Voters and We Are Watching address those gathered on Feb 12, 2009 in front of the St. Louis County Courthouse.
An American Indian Drum Ciricle Performed Before and After Speakers
A really wonderful tribal newspaper that covers MN and WI issues closely with solid reporting is The Circle: http://www.thecirclenews.org
The national Indian newspaper is called Indian Country Today. They are at http://www.indiancountrytoday.com
A great on-line service that includes links to current Indian stories around the nation is www.indianz.com
The absolute best source of information about national issues impacting Indian people at the legislative level is the National Congress of American Indians. NCAI represents the 562 tribes in Washington DC and has an outstanding web site. They can be found at http://www.ncai.org
A great source for people interested in legal issues would be the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). They are at http://www.narf.org
More locally, the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association has a great "Test your Indian Issues IQ Test" that covers everything from sovereignty to taxation. They are at http://www.mnindiangaming.com
Even closer to home is Fond du Lac. Fond du Lac has an outstanding on-line tribal newspaper. The quality of reporting is fantastic and there's great photography as well. You can go to http://www.fdlrez.com and scroll down to click on "online newspaper" and download a pdf of the latest news.
The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) is an inter-tribal, co-management agency committed to the implementation of off-reservation treaty rights on behalf of its eleven Ojibwe member tribes. Formed in 1984 and exercising authority specifically delegated by its member tribes, GLIFWC's mission is to help ensure significant, off-reservation harvests while protecting the resources for generations to come.http://www.glifwc.org