New Mexico tribe breaks off compact negotiations

Monday, July 12, 2004  

"Enough is enough," the new governor of Pojoaque Pueblo has told New Mexico attorney general Patricia Madrid.

Gov. George Rivera said he was ending talks with the state over a long running revenue-sharing dispute. "Your negotiating tactics make me believe that you would break the tribe just to have the tribe pay the state. I refuse to break the tribe just to pay the state," the letter said, according to The Albuquerque Journal

The tribe reportedly offered $9 million to settle the dispute but the state rejected it. The state says the tribe owes $25 million.

Ten other tribes agreed to pay all the money owed under old compacts with a 16 percent revenue-sharing rate. The payment was a condition to new compacts that capped the rate at 8 percent.

Get the Story:
Pojoaque Pueblo KOs Talks With AG's Office (The Albuquerque Journal 7/10)