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 more land in trust is there devlopment plan for this O'Neil - I don't know we Fink : it's not for sale.