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The Roseburg News Review—December 28, 2006
Cow Creek tribal officials state that tribal giving to nonprofit organizations and public bodies provides a far greater benefit to the Douglas County than any loss of property tax dollars when the Cow Creeks transfer land into tribal trust.
However, Douglas County Commissioners agreed to ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs to consider the impact of tribal transfers on county property tax rolls.
By John Sowell
Douglas County commissioners unanimously approved a letter Wednesday expressing concerns about the latest request by the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians to transfer land into tribal trust.
The two-page letter, addressed to Ronald Kortlever, superintendent of the Siletz Agency of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, asks that the BIA take into consideration the impact taking the property off property tax rolls would have on the county and other taxing districts.
The two parcels that make up the 30-acre Rivers West South Umpqua Campground, located off Interstate 5 north of Myrtle Creek, are valued at $464,375. They are currently assessed $12,488 in annual property taxes.
The largest share, $8,014, is apportioned to the South Umpqua School District.
The county receives $1,937, while $901 goes to the Douglas Education Service District, $864 goes to the Myrtle Creek Rural Fire Protection District and $771 goes to Umpqua Community College.
The letter, written by Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman and approved by all three commissioners, notes that the South Umpqua School District was forced to close a school in Canyonville and buses those students to another school because money was no longer available to continue to operate the school.
However, property tax revenues for school districts go to the state, where they are placed in a larger pot and reapportioned on a per-student basis and then returned to individual districts. The loss of $8,014 would amount to $40.68 when divided among the 197 school districts in Oregon.
Kittelman solicited responses from each of the taxing districts. Neither UCC nor the ESD raised any objections, but both the school district and fire district mentioned concerns about the loss of property tax revenues from taking the property into trust.
In its response, the Myrtle Creek Rural Fire Protection District said: "We cannot accept the loss of revenue and still maintain our level of service."
Commissioner Doug Robertson said it would have been inconsistent to have received the concerns and not relayed them to the BIA.
He noted that this was the first time any taxing district had notified the Board of Commissioners that they were worried about the loss of property tax revenues from land being taken into tribal trust.
"These folks, of course, are our constituents, they're taxpayers and they're concerned about the integrity of their operations, as we are ours," Robertson said. "We have and will continue to have a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with the tribe. We just simply on this issue are going to agree to disagree."
Robertson noted that only 7 percent of Douglas County's total acreage did not have a tax exemption or deferral. He said the Legislature in the past had been generous to a large number of landowners.
The concerns raised by the two taxing districts, Commissioner Dan Van Slyke said, show the value of the resolution hammered out by the county and the tribe a few months ago. Under the resolution, the tribe agreed to meet with any taxing districts that were concerned by a loss of property tax revenue because of land moved into trust.
"The letter itself, I think, kind of emphasizes why we created the resolution to begin with. It was to create a dynamic so those taxing districts could have a voice so that they could express their concerns," Van Slyke said.
Wayne Shammel, the tribe's attorney, said the tribe is willing to speak with representatives of the taxing districts about the loss of property taxes if the parcels move into trust.
He said the resolution with the county really formalized what the tribe had been willing to do in the past.
He said the decision by the Board of Commissioners to relay the taxing districts' concerns to the BIA was a power play more than anything else.
"I think it's less about the money than bringing us to heel," Shammel said.
Shammel said the tribe may one day decide to provide individual taxing districts payments in lieu of the property taxes they no longer have to pay when land moves into tribal trust.
If that happens, he said, districts will have to decide whether they want those payments exclusively, giving up the opportunity to seek other grants for specific projects throughout the year.
Under a gaming compact with the state of Oregon, the tribe must distribute 6 percent of its profits to charity.
The Cow Creeks give more than that and tribal officials have said that giving to public bodies, charitable groups and nonprofit organizations gives a far greater benefit to the overall community than the loss of property tax dollars to particular taxing districts when land was taken into trust.