NWPR: Chehalis Tribe in mediation over business tax dispute

Monday, May 14, 2012  

"In 2005, the Chehalis Indian tribe in southwest Washington partnered with a Wisconsin-based water park chain to build a destination resort. The state of Washington, in turn, granted the project tax exempt status. But now, correspondent Austin Jenkins has obtained internal state documents that question whether Great Wolf Lodge really is a tribal entity and eligible for favorable tax treatment.

In late 2006, there was a meeting at the Washington Department of Revenue in the office of then-Deputy Director Leslie Cushman. It was a meeting that would come to haunt an agency lawyer named Mark Bohe.

Last year, Bohe wrote an internal memo about that meeting. I’ve obtained a copy. He writes that when he arrived for the meeting, an attorney for the Chehalis tribe -– Harry Chesnin –- was already there. Bohe says his boss assured Chesnin her agency would find Great Wolf Lodge exempt from state taxes."

Get the Story:
Great Wolf Lodge Tax Exemption Stands Despite Internal Doubts, Court Ruling (Northwest Public Radio 5/14)

Chehalis Tribe and county enter mediation over taxation dispute (01/12)