Yakamas' feud with Wash. over fuel taxes in court
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state has filed suit in federal court against the Yakama Nation over a disagreement about state fuel taxes.
The lawsuit marks the latest move in a string of back-and-forth court filings and disagreements over whether tribal gas station owners may continue to buy bulk fuel largely free of state fuel taxes.
Tribal members are exempt from the tax. The state and the tribe have operated under an agreement that tribal gas station owners would only be required to pay taxes on 25 percent of the total amount of bulk fuel they purchase, to reimburse the state for fuel purchases by non-Indians at tribal stations.
However, the state terminated the agreement Dec. 5, saying the Yakama Nation was not abiding by its audit requirements. The Yakama Nation filed suit the following day in Yakama Tribal Court.
In response, the state filed suit in U.S. District Court in Yakima on Dec. 17, seeking to have a federal judge force the tribe to pay about $19.4 million in unpaid fuel taxes and to uphold the state's termination of the agreement, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported Friday.
The state fuel tax is 37.5 cents per gallon.
In a separate case, a nonprofit fuel marketing association has sued the state in federal court, questioning the legality of the agreements.
The Automotive United Trades Organization says the agreements reimburse tribes for fuel taxes they do not pay, passing the tax on to customers.
Tim Hamilton, the association's executive director, claims the state will pay tribes half a billion dollars over the next 10 years in fuel tax reimbursements.
"It's economic suicide, what's going on in our state," he said. "And no other state in the union is like this."
The lawsuit marks the latest move in a string of back-and-forth court filings and disagreements over whether tribal gas station owners may continue to buy bulk fuel largely free of state fuel taxes.
Tribal members are exempt from the tax. The state and the tribe have operated under an agreement that tribal gas station owners would only be required to pay taxes on 25 percent of the total amount of bulk fuel they purchase, to reimburse the state for fuel purchases by non-Indians at tribal stations.
However, the state terminated the agreement Dec. 5, saying the Yakama Nation was not abiding by its audit requirements. The Yakama Nation filed suit the following day in Yakama Tribal Court.
In response, the state filed suit in U.S. District Court in Yakima on Dec. 17, seeking to have a federal judge force the tribe to pay about $19.4 million in unpaid fuel taxes and to uphold the state's termination of the agreement, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported Friday.
The state fuel tax is 37.5 cents per gallon.
In a separate case, a nonprofit fuel marketing association has sued the state in federal court, questioning the legality of the agreements.
The Automotive United Trades Organization says the agreements reimburse tribes for fuel taxes they do not pay, passing the tax on to customers.
Tim Hamilton, the association's executive director, claims the state will pay tribes half a billion dollars over the next 10 years in fuel tax reimbursements.
"It's economic suicide, what's going on in our state," he said. "And no other state in the union is like this."
Time for the tribes to quit babysitting the state. They don't have to pay any state taxes and they shouldn't. It just sets up legal entanglements like this. They were designated sovereign states by our federal congress long ago and we should at least honor that agreement, seeings as how we have violated virtually every other agreement we have signed with them. The tax amount we're talking about is minor compared to all the fuel tax money our state already pisses away on things other than road projects.
How silly of the state to expect the "natives" to pay taxes, they're not done playing the victim card.
I could be wrong, but as I recall, these no-tax and low-tax perks were promised and given to native tribes by Christine Gregoire, in exchange for their voting support. They only have to pay a portion of the gas tax collected by tribal gas stations, encompassing the non-tribal buyers. This was a sneaky, bad idea then, and now it's coming back to bite both parties, tribes and the state. These perks SHOULD expire.
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Personally, I'm sick and tired of special privileges being given to current day native tribes. Get over the abuse of the central plains Indians. It's done and over and especially NW Indians can now well support their own people via all the casinos they own and operate. Like mootpoint stated, they drive all the same roads that need construction and maintenance, that the rest of us do.
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I hope this political posturing won't continue under Inslee. I hope he and the legislature have the guts to put and end to special privileges for a self-sustaining nation within our state.
Lock down their country, put border checkpoints on it, and let them support themselves--oh wait, bad idea! They'd just put up more casinos, jails and start importing low cost manufacturing. It'd be like China, but with roulette.
So require tribal gas stations to be membership only.  Should have to be a card carrying member of the tribe to get gas there.
Hey tribal members, the first mistake was dealing with Gregoire. We all knew she was a liar and it will not get any better with dumbslee coming in. Welcome...
tax their casinos
Taxless fuel? Wow, I wasn't aware that tribal members weren't driving on roads maintained by the state and federal governments. How are they getting from point A to point B? I haven't seen any separate/secret tribal highway system in my travels, what a mystery.
@mootpoint Tribes maintain their own roads on thier own property.
 @kockatoo  @mootpoint That may be but they don't maintain the state highways that pass through their lands and their members drive on the same roads as all of the rest of us when off the reservation. It would be interesting to find out how much of the members' driving is actually done on tribally owned roads. I'd bet less than 50%