Chapter 8.20
ANIMAL HEAD TAX
Sections:
8.20.050 Tax on animals on the Reservation.
8.20.060 Animal head tax exemption.
8.20.070 Use of the animal head tax.
8.20.080 Obligation to report.
8.20.100 Recourse – No waiver.
8.20.010 Statement of policy.
Climate change is a major issue throughout the United States, including in Indian Country. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from animals is now a globally recognized problem. On the Chehalis Reservation, climate change has a direct impact on the Chehalis and Black Rivers and on the anadromous fish, including the aquatic plants and organisms and other habitat resources necessary for fish to thrive, the damage to which represents a significant negative impact on the cultural life of the Tribe and on the subsistence needs of the Tribal community. The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation (“Tribe”) has a strong environmental ethic and the ability, as a sovereign, to participate in the fight to reduce these and other climate changing effects from human activities. In addition, the Tribe has been engaging in major governmental projects to protect the Chehalis and Black Rivers and to engage in aquatic species restoration projects both on the Chehalis Reservation and off Reservation. These environmental protection projects require substantial governmental financial and staff resources. The Tribe seeks to exercise its inherent and sovereign rights of self- determination, the “free use and enjoyment” of its lands, and regulatory authority over lands within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation and other Chehalis Indian Country, including trust and fee lands used to produce, feed or develop animals for commercial consumption and/or other business purposes, where permitted by applicable Tribal and Federal law, including without limitation the exceptions identified in Montana v. United States. To achieve this goal, the Business Committee states that it shall be official Tribe policy to vigorously protect and defend the health, safety and welfare of the Tribe, its members, and residents of and visitors to the Reservation, and to advance protections relating to environmental and climate change issues and to economic and self-governance interests within the Tribe’s Reservation and other Indian Country. It is further the policy of the Tribe to enhance its tax base as its primary means of providing governmental programs affecting the health, safety and welfare of the members of the Tribe and protecting the Reservation’s surface and ground water, the Chehalis and Black Rivers, the water quality of the Chehalis and Black Rivers, and their fish and aquatic resources. Such governmental purposes are central to the governance of the Reservation and the internal affairs of the Tribe and shall extend to the regulation and taxation of all animals raised, fed or residing on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country for commercial consumption and/or other business purposes. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.020 Findings.
The Business Committee finds and declares that:
A. The purpose of an animal head tax by the Tribe is both to generate significant governmental revenue necessary for the delivery of essential governmental services to all members of the Tribe and all residents of and visitors to the Reservation and other Chehalis Indian Country, and to protect the environment of the Reservation and the health of the Chehalis and Black Rivers and the anadromous fish returning to the Reservation. These revenues are intended to promote essential governmental services and to protect the health, safety and welfare of members of the Tribe, residents, businesses and guests on the Reservation and other Chehalis Indian Country, including from human activities that contribute to climate change;
B. Without the ability to impose a real property tax on the Reservation, the Tribe must rely on economic development and taxation to provide health, safety and welfare benefits to its members and residents of and visitors to the Reservation and to protect against the damage caused by climate change and the potential or continued degradation of the Chehalis and Black Rivers and their fish resources; and
C. Another aspect of the Tribe’s sovereign role and need to provide services and protect its environment is for the Tribe to implement its license(s) for its two and one-half GHz broadband network which will provide emergency notifications related to road closures, fire, flood and other storm events, health issues such as COVID-19, and other public safety issues to all residents and businesses of the Reservation, whether on fee or trust land;
D. The cost of providing essential governmental services and the Tribe’s efforts to prevent and combat the effects of climate change requires the Tribe to implement new directly related taxes on certain businesses located on fee and trust lands on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country, where permitted by applicable Tribal and Federal law, including without limitation the exceptions identified in Montana v. United States. These businesses include commercial facilities that raise, feed, or house animals for consumption and/or other business purposes, which facilities have adverse environmental impacts – including through direct contamination by feces, gases, and other wastes that pollute water, air, and land resources, as well as through climate change – on the Reservation’s surface and ground water and on the Chehalis and Black Rivers and their anadromous fish populations, which are essential to the subsistence and cultural lifeways of the Tribe and its members. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.030 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and enhance the Tribe’s sovereign governmental integrity through the regulation/taxation of animals raised for commercial purposes on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country and to generate revenue to conduct essential governmental functions and services and protect the environment of the Tribe, its members and the residents and businesses on the Reservation. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.040 Definitions.
“Animal” shall mean any living organism/livestock animal raised, fed and/or residing within the exterior boundaries of the Chehalis Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country for commercial consumption and/or other business purposes, including but not limited to mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians.
“Person” shall mean any member or nonmember individual, corporation, firm, limited liability company, organization, or association, who or which is engaged in any business, trade, occupation, or profession or renders or furnishes any service for profit or livelihood, but not individuals working for said persons as employees. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.050 Tax on animals on the Reservation.
A. There is hereby levied by the Tribe a head tax on all animals raised, fed and/or residing on the Chehalis Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country for commercial consumption and/or other business purposes (“animal head tax”), measured as set forth below.
B. The animal head tax shall be $1.00 per animal per year, calculated as $0.50 per living animal raised, fed, or residing on the Chehalis Reservation and/or other Chehalis Indian Country during the six-month period immediately preceding the two respective payment dates set forth below.
C. The animal head tax shall be $0.50 per live animal being raised, being fed, or residing on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country on or preceding April 1st of each year commencing April 1, 2022, and $0.50 per live animal being raised, being fed, or residing on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country on or preceding October 1st of each year commencing October 1, 2022.
D. Attached as Exhibit A to the resolution codified in this chapter is the form to be filled out by the person owning, or otherwise raising, feeding, or housing, the animal(s), which form shall be remitted no later than May 1st and November 1st of each year commencing in 2022, regardless of whether any animal head tax is due and owing. If animal head tax is due and owing, the person shall file the form along with the tax payment calculated as set forth above.
E. The legal incidence of the animal head tax imposed by this section is on any person owning, or otherwise raising, feeding, or housing, the animals on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country, including, without limitation, persons conducting activities on Tribal lands, persons who have entered consensual relationships with the Tribe or its members, through commercial dealing, contracts, leases, licenses, easements or other arrangements, and persons whose conduct threatens or has a direct effect on the political integrity, economic security, or health and welfare of the Tribe and its members, including through the adverse environmental impacts of commercial animal production facilities. The place of taxation is the lands on the Tribe’s Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country where the animals are being raised, fed, or housed. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.060 Animal head tax exemption.
There is exempt from the payment requirement set forth above with respect to animals, as follows:
A. The first 100 cattle/cows/bulls being reported by a person on the dates for reporting and payment set forth above; and
B. The first 150 sheep or goats being reported by a person on the dates for reporting and payments set forth above; and
C. The first 500 chickens/hens/other fowl being reported by a person on the dates for reporting and payment set forth above; and
D. For all other animals subject to the animal head tax, the exemption shall be based on an equivalent weight of the animals in question as compared to subsections A, B and C of this section, whichever is highest. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.070 Use of the animal head tax.
A. Subject to the purposes set forth above, the Business Committee of the Tribe shall budget the use of the animal head tax provided herein.
B. Animal head tax receipts shall be deposited when received into the general fund of the Tribe.
C. Taxes generated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall be applied first to the costs of administration. All taxes received in excess of said costs shall be allocated pursuant to resolution by the Business Committee with due consideration given to the policies, findings, and purposes set forth herein. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.080 Obligation to report.
Every person subject to the provisions of this chapter shall have a civil regulatory obligation to self-report on the Exhibit A form, whether an animal head tax notice is sent by the Tribe or not. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.090 Enforcement.
A. This chapter may be enforced by the Chehalis Tribal Police, a Chehalis Tax Regulatory Commission and/or any other entity acting in a civil regulatory capacity designated by the Business Committee to do so. The Business Committee is authorized to employ such inspectors, investigators, auditors, agents, and staff as may be necessary, acting exclusively in a civil regulatory capacity, to ensure compliance herewith.
B. The authorized agents of the Tribe, acting at the direction of the Business Committee, shall have such authority as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to the authority to inspect locations on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country where the animals are being raised, being fed, or reside, to seize any untaxed and/or unreported animals that may reside on the Reservation or other Chehalis Indian Country in the course of violating this chapter, and to seize any vehicles or other personal property used in the course of violating this chapter.
C. Failure to comply with this chapter shall subject the person or entity violating the chapter to seizure of animals, civil forfeiture of animals, exclusion of the person from the Reservation and/or other Chehalis Indian Country and/or a civil regulatory fine not to exceed $1.00 per animal not reported and/or not paid for according to this chapter, in addition to the payment of the outstanding animal head tax due and owing. The Business Committee of the Tribe shall be entitled to assess separate penalties the cumulative effect of which not to exceed $1.00 per animal, each of which is separately subject to the foregoing limitations, for failure to file a report, failure to timely file a report, failure to pay, underpayment by greater than 20 percent of the animal head tax owed, and late payment. [Res. 2022-2.]
8.20.100 Recourse – No waiver.
A. A person who disputes the application of the animal head tax to them or their activities, who objects to the amount of animal head tax due and owing, or who seeks a reduction in the amount of the animal head tax due and owing may file an administrative appeal before the Chehalis Business Committee no later than 30 days after the challenged animal head tax payment is due, which appeal the Business Committee may grant or deny in its sole discretion.
B. The decision of the Business Committee shall be in writing.
C. The decision of the Business Committee shall be subject to the right of an appeal to the Chehalis Tribal Court under the terms of the civil procedure rules of the Court. Such an appeal shall be limited to declaratory and/or injunctive relief and, if payment has been made under protest, to the reimbursement of monies paid limited to the specific tax date payment being challenged.
D. Such an appeal must be filed with the Court within 15 calendar days of the service by mail, email or overnight delivery of the written decision of the Business Committee. If the appeal is not timely appealed, it shall be dismissed.
E. The decision of the Chehalis Tribal Court shall not be subject to appeal to the Chehalis Court of Appeals or any other court.
F. Except as it relates to the specific right of appeal defined herein, nothing contained in this chapter waives the sovereign immunity of the Tribe and its officers and employees, nor shall it establish a cause of action in any United States Federal, State or Tribal Court. [Res. 2022-2.]