Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 11, 2005 9:40:23 GMT -5
www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411869
Foreclosure out in push for Oneida tax pact
Posted: November 07, 2005
by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today
ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS, N.Y. - With a strong push from U.S. District Judge David Hurd, talks are continuing to settle tax disputes between the Oneida Indian Nation of New York and its neighboring jurisdictions.
Hurd ruled Oct. 27 that Madison County could not use foreclosure to collect property tax bills on the Oneidas' non-reservation holdings. He later issued a temporary restraining order on Oneida County, pending a hearing Nov. 7. The ruling, based on the Oneidas' sovereign immunity, was a major victory for the nation after a string of legal defeats for New York state Indians.
But Hurd strongly urged alternate means of settling the tax liabilities following the U.S. Supreme Court's City of Sherill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York decision on March 29. The Supreme Court said the Oneida Nation could not unilaterally assert sovereignty and, therefore, tax immunity over parcels it had reacquired within the boundaries of its previous reservation.
In early October, the nation reached an agreement with Sherrill to pay $59,814 in back taxes. It offered the compact as a model for settlements with other local governments, but local politicians have been reluctant to accept it. Tax collection on Indian lands has emerged as a major issue in local elections pending on Nov. 8, as the Sherrill decision re-energized anti-Oneida activists.
Officials in Madison and Oneida counties have accelerated foreclosure proceedings against Oneida parcels, but Hurd emphatically called a halt in his Oct. 27 ruling. In a preamble to a permanent injunction against Madison County, he wrote, ''A District Court should not permit the taking of a sovereign nation's land against its will by foreclosure or any other means, without the express approval of the United States Government. In this country, such an extraordinary remedy - taking a sovereign nation's land against its will - has never been legally sanctioned.''
Hurd anticipated the objection from local governments that the Sherrill case had given them a right to collect taxes without a remedy. He repeatedly cited the 1991 Supreme Court case Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Citizen Band Potawatomi, which produced an analogous situation. Like Chief Justice William Rehnquist in that decision, he suggested the alternate means of negotiating a ''mutually acceptable'' agreement.
In a final footnote, Hurd observed, ''As in the Sherrill case, there is always the possibility of a settlement agreement between the parties. This, of course, would be the best final result. However, a settlement would require a spirit of cooperation and compromise on the part of both sides which has heretofore appeared to be sorely lacking.''
''Otherwise,'' he concluded, ''this and other federal and state litigation will continue into the indefinite future.''
The Oneida Nation has filed 22 court challenges to foreclosure proceedings by its neighbors, but its reaction to Hurd's ruling underlined a preference for negotiations. A statement released by spokesman Mark Emery read, ''As America's first allies, the Oneida Nation has always tried to work for a settlement that benefits all Central New Yorkers. The Nation will continue to work hard for agreements that meet the financial needs of our neighbors and move the area forward.''
Emery denied a report in a local paper that the Oneidas had cut off tax talks after Hurd's decision. He said the nation had offered versions of the Sherrill compact to the city of Oneida, the village of Canastota, the town of Verona and Oneida County. The five-page compact with Sherrill provides for payment of back taxes without interest or penalties. It sets up a framework of advance notification for health and weights and measures inspections by local governments, which were previously ruled out by the nation's assertion of sovereign status on its properties.
The compact also specifies that it will not apply to any land put into trust for the Oneidas by the federal government, the process recommended by the Sherrill decision for re-establishing tribal sovereignty on reacquired parcels of the former reservation.
The pending land-into-trust applications give the Oneida Nation a powerful incentive to settle tax issues. The Interior Department informed it earlier this summer that it could not grant trust status to land encumbered by tax liens.
In announcing the compact jointly with Sherrill, Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said, ''The Oneida Nation is gratified to resolve all disputes with the city of Sherrill and hopes to be able to do the same with all of its neighbors.''
The Oneida Nation also allayed a conflict with most neighboring school districts by paying their recently delivered tax bills. Emery explained that the school district bills were now due, but that county taxes were not yet assessed. He said that payments had come out of the Nation's Silver Covenant fund, which had provided voluntary contributions to local schools and governments.
Since it began in 1996, the Silver Covenant fund paid more than $8 million in grants to seven school districts and four local governments. ''The Nation didn't receive credit'' for these payments as tax payments in the past, said Emery, ''so this time when the Nation made payments from the Silver Covenant fund, it sent them out with the tax bills.''
Other than noting that the fund had been used for tax payments, he left unclear the future of the voluntary program.
He also said that the payment to the joint Vernon-Verona-Sherrill school district was handled differently than others because that district included the nation's Turning Stone Resort and Casino. He said the nation paid only on the value of the land, not developments. He said that valuation of Turning Stone was a separate legal issue, now in litigation. Although Verona has made an initial assessment of $378 million, the nation maintains that the casino resort has no commercial value because it cannot be transferred to any other owner.
The two counties have estimated that their tax claims will total around $8 million. Emery said the Oneidas couldn't say what amount they would offer in the compacts because they had not yet received tax bills from the counties. The counties' property tax bills go out around the end of December, he said.
Hurd's decision seemed to surprise county officials because he had recently ruled against the Cayuga Nation in a separate case. Citing the Sherrill case, he allowed local officials in Cayuga territory to order the closing of two small Class II gaming operations the Cayugas had opened.
Foreclosure out in push for Oneida tax pact
Posted: November 07, 2005
by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today
ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS, N.Y. - With a strong push from U.S. District Judge David Hurd, talks are continuing to settle tax disputes between the Oneida Indian Nation of New York and its neighboring jurisdictions.
Hurd ruled Oct. 27 that Madison County could not use foreclosure to collect property tax bills on the Oneidas' non-reservation holdings. He later issued a temporary restraining order on Oneida County, pending a hearing Nov. 7. The ruling, based on the Oneidas' sovereign immunity, was a major victory for the nation after a string of legal defeats for New York state Indians.
But Hurd strongly urged alternate means of settling the tax liabilities following the U.S. Supreme Court's City of Sherill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York decision on March 29. The Supreme Court said the Oneida Nation could not unilaterally assert sovereignty and, therefore, tax immunity over parcels it had reacquired within the boundaries of its previous reservation.
In early October, the nation reached an agreement with Sherrill to pay $59,814 in back taxes. It offered the compact as a model for settlements with other local governments, but local politicians have been reluctant to accept it. Tax collection on Indian lands has emerged as a major issue in local elections pending on Nov. 8, as the Sherrill decision re-energized anti-Oneida activists.
Officials in Madison and Oneida counties have accelerated foreclosure proceedings against Oneida parcels, but Hurd emphatically called a halt in his Oct. 27 ruling. In a preamble to a permanent injunction against Madison County, he wrote, ''A District Court should not permit the taking of a sovereign nation's land against its will by foreclosure or any other means, without the express approval of the United States Government. In this country, such an extraordinary remedy - taking a sovereign nation's land against its will - has never been legally sanctioned.''
Hurd anticipated the objection from local governments that the Sherrill case had given them a right to collect taxes without a remedy. He repeatedly cited the 1991 Supreme Court case Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Citizen Band Potawatomi, which produced an analogous situation. Like Chief Justice William Rehnquist in that decision, he suggested the alternate means of negotiating a ''mutually acceptable'' agreement.
In a final footnote, Hurd observed, ''As in the Sherrill case, there is always the possibility of a settlement agreement between the parties. This, of course, would be the best final result. However, a settlement would require a spirit of cooperation and compromise on the part of both sides which has heretofore appeared to be sorely lacking.''
''Otherwise,'' he concluded, ''this and other federal and state litigation will continue into the indefinite future.''
The Oneida Nation has filed 22 court challenges to foreclosure proceedings by its neighbors, but its reaction to Hurd's ruling underlined a preference for negotiations. A statement released by spokesman Mark Emery read, ''As America's first allies, the Oneida Nation has always tried to work for a settlement that benefits all Central New Yorkers. The Nation will continue to work hard for agreements that meet the financial needs of our neighbors and move the area forward.''
Emery denied a report in a local paper that the Oneidas had cut off tax talks after Hurd's decision. He said the nation had offered versions of the Sherrill compact to the city of Oneida, the village of Canastota, the town of Verona and Oneida County. The five-page compact with Sherrill provides for payment of back taxes without interest or penalties. It sets up a framework of advance notification for health and weights and measures inspections by local governments, which were previously ruled out by the nation's assertion of sovereign status on its properties.
The compact also specifies that it will not apply to any land put into trust for the Oneidas by the federal government, the process recommended by the Sherrill decision for re-establishing tribal sovereignty on reacquired parcels of the former reservation.
The pending land-into-trust applications give the Oneida Nation a powerful incentive to settle tax issues. The Interior Department informed it earlier this summer that it could not grant trust status to land encumbered by tax liens.
In announcing the compact jointly with Sherrill, Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said, ''The Oneida Nation is gratified to resolve all disputes with the city of Sherrill and hopes to be able to do the same with all of its neighbors.''
The Oneida Nation also allayed a conflict with most neighboring school districts by paying their recently delivered tax bills. Emery explained that the school district bills were now due, but that county taxes were not yet assessed. He said that payments had come out of the Nation's Silver Covenant fund, which had provided voluntary contributions to local schools and governments.
Since it began in 1996, the Silver Covenant fund paid more than $8 million in grants to seven school districts and four local governments. ''The Nation didn't receive credit'' for these payments as tax payments in the past, said Emery, ''so this time when the Nation made payments from the Silver Covenant fund, it sent them out with the tax bills.''
Other than noting that the fund had been used for tax payments, he left unclear the future of the voluntary program.
He also said that the payment to the joint Vernon-Verona-Sherrill school district was handled differently than others because that district included the nation's Turning Stone Resort and Casino. He said the nation paid only on the value of the land, not developments. He said that valuation of Turning Stone was a separate legal issue, now in litigation. Although Verona has made an initial assessment of $378 million, the nation maintains that the casino resort has no commercial value because it cannot be transferred to any other owner.
The two counties have estimated that their tax claims will total around $8 million. Emery said the Oneidas couldn't say what amount they would offer in the compacts because they had not yet received tax bills from the counties. The counties' property tax bills go out around the end of December, he said.
Hurd's decision seemed to surprise county officials because he had recently ruled against the Cayuga Nation in a separate case. Citing the Sherrill case, he allowed local officials in Cayuga territory to order the closing of two small Class II gaming operations the Cayugas had opened.