These notes are a work in progress and corrections / additions will be added. They are presented so as to enable one to more easily follow the discussion.
Transfer of Land to tribal Entities
Land Commissioner Bob Krepps
State of Minnesota gets request to transfer land into tax exempt status, time we have to respond is generally
very short, we must answer what tax status, services provided and position of the county.
In past we sent out an email looking for comment, getting no response we would do the response
commissioner Fink responded with a full page of comments of comments about why we should oppose it
Got a little bit of information of the services
Commissioner O'Neil approached me, he asked that it be brought to a workshop because he didn't know if he agreed with
that position, way back in Sept (0?) we have received several more
commissioner Fink did nature of
number of properties not even in the trust
moved to tax exempt status
Should be taxable property
Board can discuss
Figure out how board wants to go
4 5 6 times a year
items around land use
california
naco should oppose continuted transfer
trust land
becoming a problem in California
we got a couple tribes back here
we ought to take a look
everybody was requested to take a look for themselves
talk about it
sent out an email to AMC hey look I was wondering
where the reservations are in Minnesota
this particular map
on there there is a number of them
if you've got a reservation
is there enough land
taken off tax rolls
put into
Turn it over to whomever
Fink : I'll start
letter from governor on this particular parcel showed up and was signed Sept 2008, let us know what objections you might have
because there was a request of the governor by the federal government
On county roads inside a very small township called stony brook
Request has come across my desk several times, you probably wondered alright who's doing what
As you know I sit on the Land Use ... Environment Energy Naco
California Commissioner brought resolution
ought to at least take a look
where the reservations are in minnesota
map
you will notice there is a number of them
not unique or unusual
Is enough land being requested to be taken off the tax rolls to be put into the trust land
if you buy a piece of private property does it make a difference whether you are the
tribe or 3m or Dennis Fink as to wheter or not you should have to pay taxes
some statute that allows certainly inside the reservation in St. Louis County that if
only to st. louis county
tax forfeited land goes for sale inside the reservation the
reservation has first right of refusal and that's by statute
additional questions popped up
I have a small report we put together not comprehensive
what it says is there are
a number of counties listed
a number of acres
how much there is
yellow medicine for example has 461 acres
recently purchaced in last 6 years
288 not in trust at this particular point, there is some active purchasing going on.
beltrami
carlton
goodhue
menomeni
taken off the tax rolls and all of this stuff has occured in the last 10 years
there is a packet of information that lists each parcel that are tax forfeit
did make it to the trust or was classified by assessor as tax exempt in fact at the end of the day a
letter went out on November 13, you just have to look at the
these are documents for which we have not charged taxes on since they were transfered
but are not intended to be in the trust nor are requested to be in the trust
right now there are some parcels we don't know how far back it goes
last year alone the county did not receive just shy of 50,000 dollars on this list
you can't go back and collect even if we could figure out
state statute
only go back a few years,
I think it's two or one plus
We could do 2008 payable in 2009 anyhow
we are solving some of the problems the issue that came
really got down to question I asked first
not all these properties are inside the reservation
they are wherever a particular piece of land might be
so the question becomes
is there a difference in the ownership between the tribe purchasing it, 3M purchasing it or one of us purchasing land
or should there be and the question comes down to
how many acres are we talking about
for St. Louis County it's been 2700 acres
they are much more agressive in the Fond du Lac
Since we started looking at this there is a
second parcel came in
and the parcel is 80 acres
similar letter
end of letter until we don't do anything with this until until we get an opportunity to decide what we think the policy is
since september
land dept is here because the land department
like to offer
first refusal on those particular lands
Bob would
speak to that I'm sure.
Steve made a great point, asking why are we doing this
4.3 million acres of land mass in St. Louis County and 16% of that makes up 90% of our taxable property
I'm back at this stage of no net loss of private land
if reservations do pick up
at what point does county take trust land or
taxable property
township officer actually called the auditor about a week after I approached the administrator
and they sent him to me and I talked to him and his concern was the amount of property in Stony Brook this is just a small little township and his argument was
you know I don't know what to do here but I'd like to protest or not allow this to be
I'm responsible for fire and a number of other services in the area and my tax base is being eroded at a fairly sizable base or time
they asked to sit beside us and discuss how this goes
Bob you wanna talk about the position the land department has at this moment
I'm here tolisten to this discussion
We currently have 2 parcels we have been holding since September that have been requested by the tribe
now they also thru the statute will come in and request various parcels for aquisition
so I guess
we're trying to figure out
got request on the table
got the work done
I'd like to point out that if using the Stony Book example, I've got the plat book, stony brook township the ... tribal land... alot of private land
Stony Brook alot of parcels shown in white already in ....
there other parcels that are undivided interests of US Govt and Minnesota Tax Forfeit lands
When you start looking at it
it gets even more dire when looking at a township or school district
On the fond du lac
there is aprox 1700 acres within the reservation and we know at some point in time
maybe not in my tenure
at some point in time in the future those lands are going to be requested
in addition to the straight tax forfeit land
so this potentially has a compounding problem
one of the concerns I have to what
Commissioner Fink pointed out
when we make the tranfer of the land
to the tribe
assessor gets
Fink Turned out that popped up in the conversation between a number of people
our own assessors
where there is a private assessor identifies status
we take that as gospel witout rechecking it - at least they did up till a month ago -
independent assessors made some assumptions - local assessor knowing the transfer could occur marked it down right then
they are being worked on
bigger and larger question is where do we go from here
O Neil
Well several things I did meet with chairwoman Diver, in December, I think all of us received this letter of January 5th to talk about this and a couple of other issues
I would urge us to accept that invitation
Secondly .... shows land in question.. these should line up exactly... if you look just to the east you should see a parcel
851
subdivision
I did talk to interum director
That part of the road is in excellent condition
fix up part of road to west
built a little subdivision
so and then I guess lastly Karen mentions towards the end here resulted in a decrease ... 20% of land base
this illustrates what we talked about
original ceded territories
just to give you a kind of a graphic visual of Fond du Lac
They have lost most all of their land
good reason to want to acquire land..
folks
putting it to good use
housing social services, fixing the road
Commissioner Nelson - turns to Sweeney, wants to hear what she has to say
disappointed
cut
I support return of land to them if they are going to be autonomous
not just policing o
all of
this really disturbs me that such a small portion of the reservation
trust lands no longer taxable
I'm having some difficulty
sherrif spends alot of time out there
even though they have their own quote police protection
we have to prosecute them we have to jail them we
wehave to plow thier roads they are still county roads we can't shut them down they are also used by other people
we're providing all these services
the rest of the county is paying for the services
disproportionate amount
other
receiveing those services
so bad
banishment on that reservation
something where we need to sit down at the
last one should be giving any more land or tax base away
maybe makes me sound unfeeling
we have got to deal with the issues
money to pay for them
services of the reservation
they use both and so they are getting as much or more. They get both.
While I represent these people, the people who live in St. Louis county
get a disproportionate
alot of things
before we
land to that
how we get to where we are
Originally the land was parceled off
property was intended to stay within reservation was
tax forfeit
sold
now they are talking about a resale back to tribe not individuals
interesting to see how it all goes
what does
Nelson
O'Neil
asked Karen to this meeting, we talked about the banishment issues
wont talk about now
history
much more complex
fink county wide state wide nation wide issue that seems to be growing
Nelson very interesting to hear from the commissioner who represents the district
We as a government entitiy
respect for nation, fond du lac nation
no way
disrespect
Sweeney brings up a very very good point
this is not a closed reservation nor is bois forte
as such the people of St. Louis county of which our
native american
individuals that identify as native american
ask their governing body to recognize the fact that there is a responsibility to the greater communty
recognizing the autonomy they have within that nation
it is troubling
brought it up at arrowhead corrections
nutrition program
where st. louis county had traditionally
to provide
throughout state
county in particular
of course we as county
so does the nation
when the nation applies for it
up north
I look to bois forte reservation and know that those children are going to ORR, Tower
this nutrition
being provided
applications to
I think it is important that we meet with the tribal chairs
bring in the tribal chair
fond du lac
make invitiation to bois Forte to Kevin Leecy
I do not
I have no wishes to meet with them just on this land issue
I want to talk to them about
I know I am deviating
We should talk about the issues around corrections, Commissioner Sweeney
impact they can have
impact on recidivism within
cost driver we have got to look at
Commissioner O'Neil I thank you for bringing the Banishment issue forward
they have to pay taxes
other government
has to be for a community
recreation area
county land no problem I want to support that but if they are looking at other things
I would ask the tribal communities
be careful what they ask for
we could just
never put them up for sale
like it or not they continue without us
we have objected
what O'neil asked us
what I am asking us to do
does the board
object until we understand
is that the position we need to take
object
takes time and effort to do
there is a process
that is the question that is on the table.
"Commissioner Sweeney appears to be busy"
Sweeney: I think w
I do not like
If it's an open reservation
like any other
and be paying for them
market rate
taxes on them
its like the
service
state of minnesota
state forests
set aside for recreation
not set aside for a purpose, a playground a walking trail
we have to provide police protection
we have to provide fire protection
how about
to those that are
theres got to be there has to be
you can't have these services
Fink :
so are we in agreement
to oppose the transfer of this land
follow thru
do the stuff that is necessary
get a better conversation
if we do nothing the land
I only saw one negative vote on that (O'Neil voted no)
Nelson my objection to the loss of tax base
Mesabi Trail
I want to make certain
I appreciate
cooperative efforts
another issue
On a second subject
services and other kinds of things
I would like to go back a couple of years
commissioner Gene Short? was elected
much better discussion with tribes as
followed as president of Association of Minnesota Counties
Mil lacs
land was an issue at beginning of
other services
sweeney, several othersfrom northern
Grand Portage hosted by the reservation at a casino both years
AMC
lets host it ourselves at a non casino facility
Nobody showed up
we picked a time about the same time only this time we brought them to a reg
not at a casino
They cancelled out on us when we said it would be at a different
It seemed to me the right thing to do
progress was going
Land issue
More than willing to try
because there's some real issues
Sweeney : I don't believe the tribal chairs will come and sit down with us
I think we
their administrative
look at home many times
get the people from Bois Forte to come to a dedication
Nelson :I would accept the blame on that, I was remiss in not communicating that as well as I should have
O'neil I don't think it's a bad idea for a tribal chair
she seems to be
your point is well taken
statewide stuff
issue is resolved
Bob somewhat at a misgiving
he's been trying to move those 40s
they would get the first right
we will not take them
likely be a request
we will have to fight against
should I tell him to hold on
we have an outstanding request for these 2 parcels
Fink
County board is trying to figure out
Majority says they are not up for sale at this moment.
Nelson : I'm going to join commissioner O'Neil on this
I understand the majority is against them
Sweeney : more land in trust
is there devlopment plan for this
O'Neil - I don't know we
Fink : it's not for sale.