Crow Creek Sioux settle with IRS

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-03-01-Tribe-IRS_N.htm

Sioux Tribe settles tax debt with IRS, buys back land
By Josh Verges, Argus Leader

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has settled its tax debt with the IRS and lined up a loan that will enable it to buy back the 11 square miles of land the IRS sold at auction in December, the tribal chairman said. A stipulation filed in court last week indicates the tribe will dismiss its lawsuit, which sought to prevent the IRS from selling the Hyde County land. That will cancel a May 4 trial.


The IRS took the unusual step of seizing and selling the land because the tribe refused to pay $3.12 million in employment taxes, penalties and interest it racked up since 2001. At $2.58 million, the winning bid did not fully satisfy the debt. But tribal chairman Brandon Sazue, who met with government officials in Washington last week, said the IRS is forgiving what's left.


"We don't owe the IRS anything at this point in time, as long as we drop the lawsuit," Sazue said.


A spokesman for the Department of Justice's tax division acknowledged a deal was struck but could not provide any detail.


"We were glad we were able to reach an amicable resolution of the case," Charles Miller said.

The next step for the tribe is buying back the land; the auction sale came with a provision that the tribe had 180 days to do so. Sazue said the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux in Minnesota have agreed to loan the Crow Creek Sioux $3 million to buy the land. Shakopee Mdewakanton spokeswoman Tessa Lehto could not confirm the loan.


The Crow Creek also are working with the government to make sure they don't get in tax trouble again. The tribe's written complaint in the court file says they weren't paying taxes because the Bureau of Indian Affairs wrongly advised them they were exempt. Sazue said he wants to set up a mechanism that subtracts taxes from tribal councilors' paychecks. The chairman said he is excited to put the tax problems to rest and get back the land. Sazue spent three weeks on the land in December fasting and praying in protest of the IRS action. "If I hadn't set my trailer up there I don't think we'd be where we are today," he said.
 
"Nga mihi ki a koutou Whanau Kin. Hmmm...tastes decidely compromised and multifacetted. Not anything is as it seems. An enforced tax debt? An out of Court settlement if the case is pulled from the Judicial system? Buying back the Govt.s mistakes? Where will the 'new' money come from to service the debt? Is the Tribe in a fiscally sustainable ... See Moreposition to service such an undertaking? Oh I have a whole range of questions around this mess that impacts Children and Youth so powerfully and directly when divisional politics threaten Tribalz Oneness on such matters. Interesting, not altogether unpredictable and fundamentally ...Tribalz Oneness is often in need of strengthening going forward. I'd like to hear from the Women of the Tribalz, the Grandmothers and those at the forefront of political and Community matters. Bring the Women's Voices forward and lets hear Truth (reality). -Mereana Taki

IRS PLANS TO SELL CROW CREEK SIOUX NDN LAND

The Internal Revenue Service plans to auction land on one of America's poorest Indian reservations, the Crow Creek Reservation east of Pierre, according to a federal lawsuit that seeks to block the sale. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe sought to block the auction scheduled for 10 a.m. today in Highmore. A judge denied the request but indicated he will set the case for trial, said Terry Pechota, the lawyer for Crow Creek Tribal Farms Inc. Although the auction will occur, no land would change hands until sometime after a court date in late March, said Duane St. John, a member of the tribal council. The auction would sell about 7,100 acres of land on the reservation, according to a lawsuit filed late Monday in U.S. District Court for South Dakota.

The tribe has been planning to develop wind energy, and "this is our prime wind energy land - it's prime wind energy land in the whole United States," St. John said. "So that's going to be another big hurt to us."

The IRS intends to auction the land to settle delinquent federal employment taxes owed by the tribe, the lawsuit states. As of August, the tribe owed the IRS about $3.1 million in back taxes, penalties and interest, according to the lawsuit. The estimated value of the land is $4.6 million, according to a Pierre appraisal company, the court records show.  "For decades, the land was lived upon and used by members of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe," according to the lawsuit, which maintains that "a plethora of federal laws" protect such land and that it should not be sold.

"Cultural activities were conducted upon the land. Members died and were buried on the land," the lawsuit states.

St. John said four families now living on the land also could be displaced if it is sold.

IRS spokeswoman Carrie Resch said the agency's policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

"It is pretty unusual for the IRS to be engaged with a tribe trying to collect taxes like this," said David Getches, dean of the University of Colorado Law School. Tribes typically are not subject to federal taxes, but there are exceptions to that rule for business entities associated with tribes, such as casinos, Getches said.

"What is scary to tribes is the prospect of having lands that they own being auctioned off for back taxes," Getches said.. . . (read more)

Crow Creek Sioux flag of their nation