Spilyay Tymoo
A p r i l - Hawi fa n
Voi. 38, No. 8
Spring - Wawaxam
50 cents
K-8 construction expected to start in July
T h e . C onfederated Tribes and
school district 509-J are expecting
to begin construction on the new
W arm Springs k-8 school in July,
maybe a little sooner.
“We are still planning to have the
construction complete in July 2014,”
said Urbana Ross, tribal chief op
erations officer. “And we expect the
school to open in September 2014.”
There had been some delay in
tribes’ securing funding from the
USDA. T he tribes had to dem on
strate a secondary sourcè o f repay
ment, which they now have done
(see story below). This has delayed
the construction start date.
T he regional USDA office re
cently reviewed and approved the
tribes’ funding inform ation, and
forwarded the recom mendation to
the Washington,'D.C., office for fi
nal approval. As soon as the tribes
receive the USDA loan approval,
then construction can proceed, Ross
said. “A nd we’re hoping to receive
that approval— called a letter o f
c o n d itio n s^ in May,” she said.
T he tribes are borrow ing $6.5
million through the USDA. T he
tribes have also designated approxi
mately $3.5 million in tribal fund
ing to the project.
Jefferson County School District
509-J is matching the am ount with
a $10 million contribution funded
through district property tax. The
district last spring passed a $26 mil
lion bond levy that includes the por
tio n fo r the W arm Springs school.
Response
to change
in federal
horse policy
By Dave McMechan
Tymoo
1 Spilyay
Courtesy of BBT Architects.
Conceptual rendering of the entrance area of the Warm Springs k-8 school.
Cleaning, Blessing
T he project manager for con
struction o f the new school is the
Wenaha Group, based in Pendleton;
a n d m a jo rity -o w n e d by R o b
T he group is also managing other
upcom ing im provem ent projects
w ithin the district, including the
M adras H igh School perform ing
arts center.
The architect for the projects is
BBT Architects o f Bend. The ar
chitects, school board and local de
sign team have worked through the
fall and winter toward the final de
sign o f the k-8 school.
The main school building will be
80,000 square feet, or about the size
o f the Jefferso n C ounty M iddle
School.
The school will be on 20 acres at
the E ast Tenino-Chukar roads. The
acreage w ill ac c o m m o d a te th e
school buildings, sports facilities,
Q uaem pts, Um atilla tribal m em ber.
parking an d so forth.
The Office o f the Chief O pera
tions Officer has organized Clean
ing and Blessing ceremony set for
Friday, A p ril 26 at th e G reeley
Heights school building site, fol
lo w ed by lu n ch at th e A gency
Longhouse. The gathering will be
gin at 8 a.m.; with cleaning by Shaker
Church members from 8:30-10:30
a.m. Blessing o f the grounds and
W ashat will b e from 10:30 a.m.-
N oon, followed by lunch.
New school
The Confederated Tribes and
schdol d istrict recently com
pleted a plan o f operation for
the new school.
MHS projects
The two-story performing arts
center will be located next to the
new football stadium at the high
school. T he center will be an es
timated 18,800 square feet. The
facility will have a large stage to
accom m odate a band, a back
stage w ith a green room , which
will double as a practice facility
and waiting room for stage p ro
d u c tio n s , d re s sin g ro o m s,
m ak eu p ro o m s an d sto rag e
space.
By the Warm Springs
Tribal Council T ax Commission
:
' •.........' ' ............. •
.
........ 1
'
------------Courtesy-of- Tribal'Finance'.
Cigarette tax refund to the Tribe has been consistent over the years.
average annual p er capita c o n
sum ption o f cigarettes in O regon
multiplied by the num ber o f en
rolled Warm Springs tribal m em
bers multiplied by the Oregon ciga
rette tax rate per package.
For 2012 the Tribes refund was
$282,901. This was calculated as
follows: average packs o f cigarettes
per Oregonian is 47, times 2011
Tribal enrollm ent o f 5,101 m em
bers, times $1.18 state tax per ciga
rette pack equals $282,901.46.
As you can see from the chart,
the cigarette tax refunds to th e
Tribe has been consistent from year
to year. This refund to the Tribe is
i The issue o f overpopulation of
unclaimed horses is complex and
contentious. This fact is dem on
strated by a recent developm ent
w ith in th e U.S. D e p a rtm e n t o f
A g ricu ltu re , an d th e trib a l re
sponse to the developm ent.
T h e p ro b le m at h a n d is th e
prevalence o f horses roaming across
rangeland, much o f which is tribal
reservation land.
“Tribes participating in our or
ganization occupy trust lands o f
nearly 20 million acres,” said Jason
Smith, P resident o f the N ational
Tribal H orse Coalition.
Sm ith, o f the W arm Springs
N atural Resources B ranch, made
the statem ent in a recent letter to
Secretary o f the Agriculture T h o
mas Vilsack.
His letter outlines the complicated
nature o f the horse-slaughter issue,
pointing out, for instance, that the
present federal policy “will inflict
greater suffering to horses, and eco
nomic and environmental hardship
to Tribal nations.”
See HORSE POLICY on page 9
---- Dave McMechan
Cigarette tax refund helping fund school
In 1979, in response to a U.S.
Supreme C ourt decision exempting
from state tax on-reservation ciga
rette sales to Indians, the Confed
erated Tribes o f the Warm Springs
Reservation o f O regon entered into
an inter-governm ental agreem ent
w ith th e S tate o f O re g o n an d
adopted Tribal Ordinance No. 59.
T he ordinance and agreem ent
provide for a refund to the Tribe
o f the pre-collected state tax on ciga
rettes sold to Indians on the Warm
Springs Reservation.
The state cigarette tax is “pre
collected” because it is paid by the
o ff-re s e rv a tio n
c ig a re tte
wholesellers w ho place a tax stamp
on each cigarette package and then
sell them to reservation cigarette
retailers w ho include the tax in the
price o f cigarettes sold to their cus
tomers.
, T he inter-governm ental agree
m ent is how the Tribe recovers the
state tax included in the tax exempt
cigarette sales to Indians on the res
ervation.
T he Tribe’s cigarette refund is
based on a formula that takes the
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
A pril 17, 2013
Coyote News, est. 1976
P.0. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
The Tribal Council has
reestablished the Tate
Commission...
critically needed, particularly in re
lation to the K-8 Warm Springs El
ementary School project. ■
D ue to the lack o f a tax base
on the reservation, and because the
Tribal Constitution does n o t allow
assets o f the Tribes to be pledged
as collateral on loans, a steady tax
revenue such as the cigarette tax
refund is one o f the very few in
come streams o f the Tribe that is
flexible and can be used against
Tribal borrowing. In this case, the
Cigarette Tax refund is currently
bein g pledged as security and
so u rce o f rep ay m en t fo r the
Tribe’s share o f the K-8 Warm
S p rin g s E le m e n ta ry S ch o o l
Project.
As a result, it is critically im
p ortant that the W arm Springs/
Oregon inter-governmental ciga
rette tax refund agreem ent re
mains, in place to ensure that this
Tribal revenue stream continues
to be available to service the debt
on the K-8 School Project. I f this
revenue stream were to not exist
the bribes would need to find an
additional source o f revenue to
pledge to secure the new Warm
Springs school financing.
T he Tribal Council has re-es-
'tablished the Tax Commission per
resolution 11,692. It is anticipated
that all tax related m atters o f the
Tribe will b e analyzed <?ver the
next year. Any tax-related matters
should be directed to the Tax
Commission, which consists o f
Secretary-Treasurer/ CEO, Tribal
C ouncil Chair, T ribal C ouncil
Vice-Chair, Warm Springs Chief
Delvis H eath, Paiute Chief Joe
M oses an d W asco C h ief J.R.
Smith.
Motorsports
referendum-
likely in M ay
T h e p ro p o s e d m o to rs p o rts
project on the reservation is still in
the conceptual stage.
There is a 1,000-aicre site location
on M iller F la t th a t has m e t a
prelim inary review by the W arm
Springs N atural Resource Btanch.
T h e re is a team , L io n sh e a d
D e v e lo p m e n t, th a t has b een
stu d y in g th e id ea w ith W arm
Springs Ventures.
“We’ve been working on this for
a b o u t tw o y ears,” said J e f f
Anspaeh, director o f Ventures.
The preliminary plans have been
presen ted at several com m unity
meetings at each o f the longhouses,
and at other gatherings.
L an d -U se an d th e N a tu ra l
R eso u rces B ran ch h av e b een
involved through the process.
T he project is now at a point
where further consideration would
ju stify a re fe re n d u m o f th e
membership.
Tribal Council heard this update
last week, and agreed to set the
matter for referendum on Tuesday,
May 21. The coming weeks, then,
w ill see in fo rm a tio n m eetin g s
a ro u n d th e c o m m u n ity an d
re s e rv a tio n on th e d etails an d
potential for this project.
Spring 73-ling!
Win a Smoker Craft Tracer fishing boat Courtesy of
Madras Pioneer or $10,000 Cash!
See page 12 for details.