Governor’s rep: tribes’ gas tax agreement legal
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POLSON — The governor’s office has responded to questions raised about the gas tax on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and may help erase doubt as to the legality of a compact between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the state.
In a March 29 letter to Gov. Steve Bullock, county attorney Steve Eschenbacher questioned if a legally required meeting had been held, and thus the validity of the compact, before it was approved in 2012.
According to a response from the governor’s chief legal counsel Andrew I. Huff, the compact that was entered into between the tribe and the state on Aug. 30, 2012 was advertised in six area newspapers and a public meeting was held on July 30, 2012 in Pablo.
Eschenbacher also questioned the proportionality of the gas taxes distributed to the county and the tribes.
Huff said that the amount of tax revenue disbursed to the counties is based on a formula that takes into account the rural road mileage in each county, its rural population and amount of land, including tribal and non-tribal.
He noted that whether or not the state enters into a compact with an Indian tribe has no impact on the amount of gas tax revenue the county receives. The amount of gas tax revenue distributed to counties across the state is fixed according to statute, Huff said, noting the amount currently stands at $6.3 million.
According to county commissioner Gale Decker, Lake County received $178,271 in gas tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2016 but that amount has remained fairly steady over the years. In contrast, the amount of gas tax revenue received by CSKT has fluctuated more widely, going from $479,847 to $433,030, $434,168 and $611,146 in the last four fiscal years.
The amount of gas tax revenue distributed to the tribes is also based on a formula that takes into account the number of enrolled tribal members. As of April 2016, the number of enrolled tribal members was 8,023. According to the compact, the beginning number in 2012 was 5,321.
The agreement between the state and CSKT is for 10 years.
At present, all seven of the federally recognized tribes in Montana have various tax agreements with the state that cover tobacco, alcohol, motor fuel and in one case oil and natural gas taxes. CSKT was the last of the seven tribes to come to an agreement with the state regarding taxes.
