{"id":24382,"date":"2022-05-16T14:59:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T18:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=24382"},"modified":"2022-05-16T15:04:15","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T19:04:15","slug":"supreme-court-turns-down-indian-country-taxation-case-as-high-profile-session-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/16\/supreme-court-turns-down-indian-country-taxation-case-as-high-profile-session-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court turns down Indian Country taxation case as high-profile session continues"},"content":{"rendered":" \"U.S.<\/a>
A crowd rallies at the U.S. Supreme Court on the evening of May 3, 2022, in protest of a draft decision to limit the reproductive rights of women. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Supreme Court turns down Indian Country taxation case as high-profile session continues<\/div>\r\n
Monday, May 16, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — With about a month left in an already unusual session, the nation’s highest court has passed up a chance to address a long-standing issue affecting economic sovereignty in Indian Country.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn an order on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> denied the petition in Albrecht v. Albrecht<\/em><\/a>. The action, which came without explanation, lets stand a ruling from California that allows state and local governments to impose taxes on non-Indians who do business on Indian trust lands.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe dispute affects about 500 individuals, organizations and business entities in Riverside County, home to more than a dozen tribes in the southern part of the state. The non-Indian interests had challenged taxes imposed on trust lands they lease, primarily from citizens of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn a decision issued last fall, the Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two<\/a>, upheld the taxes as legitimate. The ruling concluded that Riverside County’s efforts are not pre-empted by the federal government, in its role as trustee on Indian trust lands, and do not infringe on tribal sovereignty even though the tribe does not benefit economically.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“The Agua Caliente tribe receives no portion of the revenues collected from the county\u2019s possessory interest tax or the lease payments made pursuant to the leasing of allotted land,” the appellate ruling<\/a> from September 9, 2021, stated. \r\n

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<\/p>\r\nThe Agua Caliente Band was not a part of the litigation at the state level and did not take part in the petition to the Supreme Court. The tribal citizens whose allotted lands are being taxed in Riverside County were not involved either.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut a group of tribes and tribal business interests submitted a brief in hopes of getting the nation’s highest court to resolve an issue that they say hinders economic development across Indian Country. Sovereignty is at stake, they asserted.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Here, the County of Riverside and other local government entities have sought to pad their public fisc by significantly interfering with federal and tribal leasing laws and the tribal governments\u2019 sovereign jurisdiction,” the brief signed by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, the Fort Independence Tribe of Paiute Indians, the Alturas Indian Rancheria, the Soboba Band of Luisen\u0303o Indians and the Inter-Tribal Trade Consortium read.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“These state political subdivisions have forced their own possessory interest tax and other local taxes onto Tribal Lands over which these state political subdivisions have no taxing or jurisdictional authority,” the tribal interests continued.\r\n

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<\/P>\r\nThe tribal brief highlighted the efforts that the U.S. government, in its role as trustee, has taken to promote economic development in Indian Country. Included is the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act<\/a>, a federal law that encourages tribes to exercise greater control over leasing activities on their reservations.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe law, also known as the HEARTH Act, has become popular since enacted by Congress and signed into law in 2012. As of April 2022, nearly 80 Indian nations have taken advantage of the law in order to expedite housing, agricultural and other economic opportunities<\/a> on their lands.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act has opened doors of economic opportunity for tribal nations with approved land leasing regulations,\u201d Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland<\/a>, a political appointee in the Biden administration, said last month upon approving HEARTH Act regulations for five tribes in California. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n \u201cWith these approvals, these tribal communities have had their authority to control leasing of their lands under the act restored,” said Newland<\/a>, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community. “We will continue to welcome tribes to submit HEARTH Act leasing ordinances and reclaim the authority to manage the development of their homelands.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn 2021 alone, the Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/a> approved HEARTH Act regulations for 19 tribes, a record for the federal agency.\r\n

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