Spilyay tymoo., September 13, 1983, Image 1

Í.IL?^ ................ ..... .
OREGON H IS T O R IC A L SOCIETY
1230 SW PARK AVE
PORTLAND» OR 9 7 2 0 5
n V
U.S. Postage
í"
Bulk Rate Pennit No. 2
Wann Springs, OR
OREGON HISTORICA*
■
VOL 8 NO 19
>«OÇ I P T ’V
WARM SPRINGS, OREGON 97761
SEPTEMBER 13, 1983
Timber safes concerns
answered by forestry
The tribal timber committee
and the branch of forestry are
currently in the process of
gathering input from the tribal
public to be used in designing
timber sales for 1985. The
Environmental Analyses (EAs)
have been written for each sale
area based on recent field
studies. Copies of the EAs have
been given to tribal committees
and local BIA department
heads for their comments.
To gain public input and to
discuss the proposed 1985
timber sales, a field trip and
public meeting were conducted
in August. The meeting was
held primarily to discuss the
Chuckluck, Shitike Butte and
Beaver Canyon timber sales.
Two main areas of concern
which arose centered around
timber harvest in the Shitike
and Beaver Canyon areas.
M any p e o p le e x p re sse d
concern on water quality and
fish runs in those two proposed
timber sale areas.
"Many of the tribal concern
rB8tw^gjBea
S II
Spifyay fym oo photo by Shtwciyk
OPENING PRAYER
First day assembly at Warm Springs elementary opened with prayer. Ellen Thompson repeats prayer
in English following Verbena Greene’s recitation in Indian.
are presently being incorpo­
rated into tim b e r' harvest
alternatives for both sales,”
said forest m anager Bob
Harned. The special harvest
systems will address soil
disturbance, water quality and
wildlife habitat. In addition,
said H arned, alternatives
include reducing tim b er
harvest impacts in Shitike and
Beaver Canyon by reducing the
size of the present timber sale
which would allow a lighter
harvest over a longer period of
time.
There will be some definite
impacts on the environment of
both areas, said Harned.
However, the impacts will be
minimized by using cable
systems to skid the logs uphill
away from the streams. In
addition, food for wildlife will
be increased by opening up the
stands by harvesting a portion
of the diseased and over­
mature trees^ Newly-adopted
Continued on page 2
Tribes propose to tax reservation vendors
by Donna Behrend
In a recently published
notice of proposed tax, the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs publicly notified
vendors and the public, utility
which generates electricity on
the Warm Springs reservation
of their intent to consider a tax
“pursuant to Warm Springs
Tribal Code Chapter 700.”
The Warm Springs Tribal
Code, Chapter 700, Business
Weather
AUG.
26
27
28
29
30
31
SEPT.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
HI
LOW
85
85
77
73
77
76
54
52
53
59
60
60
71
76
80
76
79
84
74
68
70
76
80
55
50
49
49
51
44
52
48
42
46
50
P riv ile g e T a x a n d the
establishment of a Tribal Tax
Commission, was enacted
through Ordinance 64 and
adopted by Tribal Council
April 27, 1982.
“The Tribe has had, for
years, the right to tax. Up until
now, it has been limited to non-
Indian vendors who come on
the reservation to do business,”
said fiscal control manager
Doug McClelland. Vendors, in
the past, have had to purchase
annually, a $25 business license
from the tribal vital statistics
department.
McClelland went on to say
that “if a tax is imposed, it
cannot be imposed on any
tribal member without a vote of
the total tribal membership.”
The proposed tax, if adopted,
would be levied only against
non-tribal member, vendors
conducting business on the
reservation or with Kah-Nee-
Ta, Warm Springs Forest
Products Industries or the
Tribe. The proposed tax
cannot be imposed on any
other governmental agencies,
such as the BIA.
Revenue from the proposed
tax is specifically earmarked
for “essential governmental
services,” such' as police and
fire protection and health and
social services. “The tribe
doesn’t want to impose a tax
that does anything but meet the
requirements of the tribal
infrastructure,” said McClel­
land.
As stated in the Tribal Code,
Chapter 700, section .090, “all
tax revenues collected. . .shall
be expended to provide
g o v e rn m e n ta l services to
p e rso n s p re se n t on the
re s e r v a tio n . T he T rib a l
Council may authorize the
distribution of tax revenues
to other governmental entities
providing essential governmen­
tal services to the reservation.”
In part 2 of section .090, it is
stated that “no tax revenues
collected pursuant to this
chapter may be distributed
to members of the Tribes on a
per capita basis.”
The Tribe is restricted by the
Business Privilege Tax Code
and the rules of the Tribal Tax
Commission as to whom they
could tax should the tax be
approved. In accordance with
the code, those non-members
engaging in the following
business activities within the
reservation could be taxed.
1) Those operating a general
mercantile business; 2) those
operating a garage for the
repair of cars, trucks, tractors
and the like; 3) those operating
a gas station, including grease
rack, sale of tires and tubes and
other car accessories; 4) those
operating motels or cabins; 5)
those operating hotels or
rooming houses; 6) those
operating a bath house,
swimming pool or other
bathing or swimming facilities;
7) those operating freezer
lockers and cold storage plants;
8) those engaged in buying and
selling; 9) those practicing a
profession; 10) those operating
a restaurant, cafe or business
otherwise dispensing food and
beverages for consumption on
the prem ises; 11) those
ru n n in g , p a s tu rin g o r
otherwise maintaining upon
the reservation any cattle or
other livestock; 12) those
operating a public utility; 13)
those operating a manufac­
turing business; and 14) those
selling insurance policies.
For those non-m em ber
businesses described above,
other than those running cattle,
generating electricity and
manufacturing goods, the tax
established by the Commission
shall not exceed one percent of
the gross receipts of the
business. H ow ever, said
M cClelland, to keep the
Recounting of such taxes as
simple as possible, each vendor
would be taxed no more than
$25 per year.
Those non-members who
run cattle on the reservation
would not be taxed more than
50« per head per month. And
for a manufacturing business,
the tax could be no more than
one-half of one percent of the
fair market value of all goods
manufactured at their point of
manufacture.
The tax that could be
imposed on the public utility
that generates electricity on the
reservation, which in this case
is Portland General Electric
(PGE), could not exceed 1« per
kilow att hour of energy
g e n e r a te d . A lso to be
considered when determining
th is ta x is the relativ e
contribution of reservation
versus non-reservation lands to
the project.
Before these taxes can be
adopted and levied, hearings
will be held to hear testimony
from those people or businesses
th a t could be a ffected .
Hearings on the proposed taxes
will be held at the Warm
Springs Community Center on
October 5 and 6. The October 5
hearings will pertain only to the
Continued on page 7