Just the fact that Spokane County and Airway Heights might resolve their tax-base differences with the Kalispel Indian Tribe without getting tied up in legal knots is a good sign. If an agreement can be worked out that allows the tribe reasonable latitude to make an economic contribution to the region, while protecting the two local governments’ ability to meet their constituents’ needs, that will be even better.

At stake is an ambitious development plan that involves declaring 250 acres of the West Plains as trust land, taking it off the property tax rolls. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs notified local entities of its plans in 2004 and made formal application last November. Foreseeing a serious hit on their revenue stream, county commissioners and the Airway Heights City Council opposed the plan.

The stage was set for a showdown laden with emotional overtones.

But it appears that calm heads were looking for a better way, and this week both the Board of County Commissioners and the City Council approved an idea that could accommodate the concerns of both tribe and governments. Under the plan, which the tribe is scheduled to take up next week, the city and county would drop their opposition, and the tribe would commit to an escalating level of payments for such routine governmental obligations as police and fire protection, streets and other development-driven infrastructure.

The payments would begin at $25,000 the first year, then go up $25,000 a year for 15 years. Airway Heights would get 80 percent of it.

In the meantime, the tribe, which already operates the commercially successful Northern Quest Casino, could proceed with its plans for business and residential development on the land just south of the casino.

Because the Kalispels and other tribes enjoy certain advantages in their gaming operations over non-tribal competitors – who do pay property taxes – such proposals are commonly met with resistance, putting elected county commissioners and City Council members in difficult political positions.

But tribes, for whom gaming operations have helped mitigate traditional economic disadvantages among their members, have largely proved to be solid community partners.

A 2005 monograph produced at Eastern Washington University noted that the Kalispels gave Airway Heights an “unprecedented” $300,000 impact fee when the first 40 acres of trust land, site of the casino, was approved. The tribe donates more than $500,000 a year to Airway Heights and local charities, according to EWU’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis.

That kind of giving goes a long way to offset the tax-base impact associated with trust lands. At the same time, it may not fill the entire gap – county Commissioner Phil Harris says it won’t even come close.

There are intangibles to be considered, however, in the economic activity that could spin off of the $130 million project.

Tribal gaming is here to stay. By working with the Kalispels to hammer out a fair agreement, Spokane County and Airway Heights can achieve far more for their residents than by sinking tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.