Group Hopes To Kill Tribe’s Plan For Future Boundary Residents Fight Kootenai Tax Exemption

Boundary County residents have launched a statewide campaign to kill a new business venture by the Kootenai Indian Tribe.

The tribe, which has about 120 members, wants a one-time sales tax exemption from state lawmakers. The bill, introduced Wednesday, would allow them to start a new business in Bonners Ferry once tribal gaming is banned.

But Concerned Idaho Citizens, a coalition of Boundary County residents and businesses, said the plan gives the tribe an unfair business advantage. The group has gone all-out to kill the bill.

They hired a Boise lobbyist for $7,500, gathered 1,500 signatures and enlisted businesses and chambers of commerce across the state to help scuttle the proposal.

“It is obviously inequitable and discriminatory to allow one group to not pay the sales tax that their competitors must pay. It also sets a dangerous precedent,” said coalition spokesman Ron Smith.

“Be assured that if this bill passes, larger tribes will argue they should be afforded the same privilege.”

One coalition concern is the bill does not limit where the business can go. The tribe could set up a retail store in any city or county across the state, Smith said.

Tribal members accuse the coalition of being racist and spreading misinformation. They plan to fight back with an advertisement in several newspapers today and have hired their own Boise lobbyist.

“There is a certain amount of racism in the (Boundary County) community and people don’t want to see the tribe get ahead,” said council member Diane David.

“We have been the one’s making all the compromises and we get attacked in return. All we want to do is take care of our own and be self-sufficient. When the gaming is gone we want something to fall back on.”

The tribe now owns the Kootenai River Inn, a hotel, restaurant and casino which is tax exempt. But the county just announced plans to try to force the tribe to pay $50,000 a year in taxes on the Inn.

Tribe opponents also say the Inn is doing so well another tax exempt business is not necessary. The coalition mailed letters saying the Inn’s casino rakes in $15 million annually and tribal members receive monthly checks for $26,000 from gaming profits.

Neither is true, David said.

“I wish we were making $15 million. We wouldn’t be here,” she said. She declined to say what the profits from the Inn were, but said it was under $3 million. And tribal members don’t receive checks. Profits go into a fund to buy land, pay for education and other social services, she said.

“The coalition has blown this way out of proportion and are telling people lies,” David said. “We are just trying to look out for the future of our children.”

The proposed bill says tax exempt status would apply to a single parcel of land purchased by a tribe that owns less than 500 acres. That rules out all other Idaho tribe’s except the Kootenais, who have a 12.5 acres reservation. The bill wouldn’t take effect unless the tribe’s gaming operation is declared illegal and stopped.

None of that matters to the coalition, which is not about bashing the tribe, Smith said.

“It doesn’t matter who proposed this bill, the Lion’s Club or the Catholic Church, we would still be opposed to it,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what business it is or where it is, it would have a distinct advantage over fair enterprise.”

, DataTimes