In Oertwich v. Traditional Village of Togiak, 2022 WL 951272 (9th Cir. 2022), Oertwich, a non-Native, had lived in Togiak, an Alaskan Native Village (Tribe), for over thirty years and operated the Airport Inn there.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
In
Navajo Nation v. U.S. Department of the Interior, 2021 WL 1655885 (9th Cir. 2021), the Navajo Nation sued the Department of the Interior (Interior), the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary), the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (collectively, the Federal Appellees) for breach of trust based on the government’s failure to consider the Nation’s as-yet-undetermined water rights under the
Winters doctrine in managing the Colorado River. Several parties, including Arizona, Nevada, and various state water, irrigation, and agricultural districts and authorities (Intervenors), intervened to protect their interests in the Colorado’s waters. The district court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that the Supreme Court had reserved jurisdiction over allocation of rights to the Colorado River in its 1963 decision in
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In a decision that impacts entities and individuals doing business in Indian Country, the Arizona Court of Appeals sided with the Taxpayer in its challenge to the state and county’s power to tax property on tribal land in the case
South Point Energy Center, LLC v. Arizona Department of Revenue, decided on April 27, 2021.
The Taxpayer in this case is a non-Indian entity that owns and operates an electrical generating plant (Facility) in Mohave County on land it leases from the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. Under the terms of the lease, Taxpayer owns the Facility and all improvements, but is required to remove most of the above ground improvements and personal property from the leased land at the end of the lease term.
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Ariz. Panel Rules Power Plant On Tribal Land Wrongly Taxed
Law360 (April 28, 2021, 2:45 PM EDT) The Arizona Tax Court incorrectly said the state can tax a power plant on Native American land because the court did not analyze whether the plant comprises tax-exempt permanent improvements, a state appellate court said, remanding for further analysis.
The state tax court erred in ruling that the state Department of Revenue s tax on assets owned by South Point Energy Center LLC and located on land leased from the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe was not barred by tribal tax immunity, the Arizona Court of Appeals said Tuesday. The company is a non-Native entity. The department incorrectly disregarded federal law providing that.