Despite handling over $30 million in trust payments a year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency in Palm Springs, California, has no accounting or legal staff, according to a new audit.
In 1992, the Interior Department's Inspector General went to the agency and uncovered trust management problems. Members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians were losing millions of dollars due to inadequate oversight and enforcement, the report said at the time.
Fifteen years later, the picture doesn't appear to have changed much, but the stakes are higher now as annual lease payments in lucrative Palm Springs exceed $30 million. The average Individual Indian Money (IIM) account there has a balance of over $1 million, according to the new audit.
Despite the money involved, the BIA has failed to implement the reforms suggested back in 1992, the Inspector General said. Staff levels have dropped by a third since the 1990s and the agency has no way of verifying whether the payments coming in are accurate.
"According to an internal agency audit, the agency receives lease payments of about $30 million annually, but the agency has no accounting staff to verify the accuracy of payments," the Inspector General audit stated.
As a result, the BIA can't assure landowners that they are receiving the right amount of money at the right time. In one example, the Inspector General couldn't find evidence of more than $250,000 owed to tribal members for use of their land for condo units.
In other example, a $74,346 annual rent payment was 18 days late to the BIA. But the Palm Springs agency never assessed a late fee or interest on the person who owed the money.
BIA employees blamed the situation on a lack of an adequate computer system. They said the Trust Asset Accounting and Management System, despite its name, "is not an accounting system and cannot be used to determine the amount due for leases," the Inspector General audit stated.
In order to conduct lease accounting and billing activities, "manual intervention" is required and
agency employees must "work around" TAAMS, according to the Inspector General. "TAAMS does not accrue late fees and interest based on the specific requirements of each lease agreement," the audit said.
Besides lack of staff, the audit said the agency lacks legal expertise. That can be traced to a breakdown in the relationship between the BIA superintendent and the field solicitor who was assigned to the area.
Robert McCarthy, the solicitor, was forced from office after he started raising concerns about trust management issues at the agency. The department is now trying to fire him as he prepares to testify for the Cobell plaintiffs in the upcoming historical accounting trial, which is scheduled to start on October 10 in Washington, D.C.
"Interior needs to start listening to and stop shooting at its messengers," said Jeff Ruch, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that is defending McCarthy as a "whistleblower."
PEER released a draft copy of the Palm Springs audit yesterday. The group said it had been provided to members and leaders of the Agua Caliente Band.
The report was dated July 20, just a couple of weeks before McCarthy was told he was going to be fired for allegedly disclosing confidential Indian trust data to the media. McCarthy was one of the sources for an April 2007 Gannett News Service story about millions of dollars in lease payments being denied to Agua Caliente landowners.
Inspector General Audit:
Indian Trust Investigative Review (July 2007)
Google Map:
Agua Caliente Lands in Palm Springs
Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kempthorne - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell
v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Related Stories:
Audit finds Indian trust management problems
(9/24)
Interior attorney to testify
at upcoming Cobell trial (9/18)
DOI
won't release trust data in Cobell case (9/11)
Interior attorney accused of
disclosing trust data (08/29)
Judge opens
electronic data to Cobell plaintiffs (07/10)
Another Cobell historical accounting hearing
(7/9)
Judge expresses views on Indian
trust fund accounting (06/19)
Hearing on
Cobell historical accounting trial (6/18)
Cobell prepares for court battle on accounting
(5/30)
Cobell prepares for historical
accounting trial (5/18)
Judge prods DOI
on Indian trust fund accounting (5/15)
First status conference for Cobell accounting trial
(5/14)
Cobell status conference pushed
back to May 14 (05/02)
Attorney calls $7B
Cobell offer pennies on dollar (4/24)
Cobell heads to landmark accounting trial
(4/23)
Judge orders Cobell accounting
trial for October 10 (4/20)
Jodi Rave:
Cobell calls for accountability (4/12)
BIA office in Palm Springs criticized by
landowners (4/11)
BIA office in Palm
Springs under investigation (4/10)
Editorial: No justice in $7B offer to settle Cobell
(4/6)
Lawmaker questions $7B plan to
settle trust cases (4/4)
Gonzales' trust
testimony downplayed (3/30)
Listening
Lounge: House hearing on BIA-OST (3/30)
Mediator suggests $7-9B settlement for Cobell
(3/30)
Jodi Rave: Cobell calls trust
offer 'insulting' (3/30)
Senate hearing
on Indian trust fund litigation (3/29)
Gonzales won't testify on trust fund
(3/28)
Supreme Court refuses Cobell
appeals (3/27)
Editorial: The
billion-dollar question (3/26)
Senate
hearing on trust fund litigation on Thursday (3/26)
The downfall of J. Steven Griles (3/26)
Blast from the Past: NBC segment on Cobell
(3/21)
Opinion: US owes Indians billions
for theft (3/14)
Bush aide linked to
Special Trustee firing resigns (3/14)
BIA names new director for Navajo regional office
(3/14)
Mother Jones: Pennies on the
dollar for Cobell (3/12)
Bush proposes
$7B trust fund settlement (3/8)
Dorgan
and Thomas disagree on Cobell settlement (1/22)
Jodi Rave: Cobell sees hope for case in new
year (1/20)
NewStandard: Tribes turn to
court over trust funds (01/08)
Jodi
Rave: Interior mum on class action tribal suit (01/05)
Tribes file class action trust accounting
lawsuit (01/04)

Cobell | Trust
BIA agency lacks accounting for millions in trust
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Stay Connected
Contact Us
indianz@indianz.com202 630 8439 (THEZ)
Search
Top Stories
Most Read
1 Film set on Pine Ridge Reservation already called one of the year's best
2 Winnebago Tribe fights back in court after 'attack on sovereignty'
3 Video: Navajo Code Talker Roy Hawthorne shares his story for veterans project
4 Mark Trahant: Trump administration sabotages the treaty and trust relationship
5 Senate Committee on Indian Affairs takes up tribal homelands legislation
2 Winnebago Tribe fights back in court after 'attack on sovereignty'
3 Video: Navajo Code Talker Roy Hawthorne shares his story for veterans project
4 Mark Trahant: Trump administration sabotages the treaty and trust relationship
5 Senate Committee on Indian Affairs takes up tribal homelands legislation
More Stories
Native communities vulnerable to climate change Griles serving prison term for lying to Congress
News Archive
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000