From the Battle Creek Enquirer:
Tribe awaits ruling on tax-exempt status
ATHENS TOWNSHIP — The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi is awaiting a Michigan Tax Tribunal decision on whether the tribe is liable for township taxes on its Pine Creek Reservation.
The tribe’s lawyer and Athens Township Tax Assessor, Marcia Bail, argued their case in late November at a tribunal hearing in Jackson. A ruling is not expected until spring.
At issue is whether the 122-acre Pine Creek Reservation near Fulton is tax-exempt, despite the fact it is not held in trust with the federal government.The tribe argues that it should still be exempt as a federally-recognized tribe with land owned by a tribal government. The township says that the land is taxable because it is not in trust.
“A lot of Indian law is gonna come out of this discussion,” NHBP Tribal Council Chairwoman Laura Spurr said. “This is our day in court to determine what’s taxable, what’s not taxable (on the reservation).”
Treaties between the state and federal government and American Indian tribes give tribes the right to place property in federal trust, creating sovereign land that is not taxable, like a small city. Pine Creek is not in trust.
The tribe has been working to put the land in trust since 1995, when the tribe was federally recognized. It is a long and complicated process that requires legislative action, Spurr said.
However, the reservation was not listed as a taxable property because the state of Michigan held the deed on the tribe’s behalf. It remained that way until 2003, when the state returned the deed to the tribe to help smooth the path to putting it in federal trust, Spurr said.
The township was notified the deed was no longer with the state and began taxing the tribe in 2004. The tribe has paid taxes since that time.
When 2007 taxes are collected in early 2008, the tribe will have paid more than $91,500 in township taxes to date, according to Athens Township Treasurer Mike Irons.
The tribunal could rule the tribe be refunded those taxes. Irons said the refund would be handled through Calhoun County, though he was not sure how the county would handle the refund or how much of that the township would be responsible for.
Spurr stressed the tribe wanted to pay what it owed, but did not believe the tribe should be responsible for the township taxes.
“That’s been the protocol for how to deal with tribal land,” she said. “It’s not something we thought up. We’re certainly not trying to get out of anything.”
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