Appeals to Kalispel Tribe’s tax-free development dropped
A significant land development project from the Kalispel Tribe of Indians got a boost Tuesday when county leaders agreed to drop opposition to its tax-free status.
The tribe is proposing a 250-acre residential and commercial development within the city of Airway Heights, south of its Northern Quest Casino on Hayford Road.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs notified the city in 2004 that the tribe had applied to make the acreage trust land, which would exempt it from property taxes. The bureau approved the application in November, and Airway Heights and county leaders appealed the decision.
Under the agreement approved unanimously by Spokane County commissioners Tuesday, the county and city would withdraw their appeals, and the tribe would pay an annual fee for police, fire, road and other services.
The tribe’s first installment will be $25,000 and will be due early next year. The fee will be increased by $25,000 each year for 15 years and by 3 percent annually starting with the 11th payment.
Airway Heights will collect 80 percent of the money; the county will get the rest. The agreement also says the tribe will make street improvements needed because of increased traffic caused by the development.
The tribal council plans to consider the proposal next week, and the Airway Heights City Council plans to take up the matter at a meeting tonight.
“We are very pleased with the outcome and are looking forward to partnering with the tribe on this development,” said Airway Heights Mayor Matthew Pederson.
But Commissioner Phil Harris expressed apprehension over the plan. He said he voted to approve the agreement only because he felt it was the best deal the county could get.
“I will continue to be grieved that the property could be used … in direct competition with the nontribal entities,” Harris said. The money Airway Heights and the county will get “will in no way come close to the amount we’ll lose in property taxes.”
Curt Holmes, vice chairman of the tribe, said he wanted to wait to discuss details of the agreement until the tribal council considers it.
“We’re all committed to working together,” Holmes said of the three parties involved in the agreement. “It was within our best interest to make sure we all do it right.”
In an Airway Heights City Council hearing in 2004, a representative of the tribe said the land could include a business park, 20 to 30 housing units and perhaps a big-box store, such as Wal-Mart.
“It’s a little premature to say what is going to be out there,” Holmes said Tuesday. “We don’t have anything solid in terms of what will be out there.”
In January, the Spokane Tribe of Indians announced plans to spend $130 million over the next few years on a 145-acre commercial complex just west of Airway Heights. Spokane tribal members said the land could include a hotel, casino and shopping center anchored by a big-box retailer.