Blackbear

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FROM: THE SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD NEWSPAPER
_http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-1/113048878319
8450.xml&coll=1_
(http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststa...450.xml&coll=1)
Ruling for Oneidas draws criticism


Oneidas' ruling colors other cases


Friday, October 28, 2005


By Scott Rapp

Staff writer
Officials in Cayuga and Seneca counties criticized a federal judge's ruling
on Thursday that bans Madison County from foreclosing on tax-delinquent
property owned by the Oneida Indian Nation of New York.
The ruling could affect Seneca County's attempt to collect taxes from the
Cayuga Indian Nation of New York, County Attorney Steven Getman said.
The nation owns several commercial properties in Cayuga and Seneca counties
and owes tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes to both counties. The
decision on Thursday by U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd, ruling from Utica,
also contradicts two recent, higher court Indian-related decisions, Getman said.

"It seems to fly in the face of the Appellate decision . . . which is one of
the reasons why I think it will be ultimately reversed. In the meantime, he
simply muddied the waters again on an issue where the Supreme Court had tried
to provide resolution and clarity," Getman said.
He and Cayuga County Legislature Chairman Herbert Marshall both said they
expect Hurd's decision to be appealed.
However, Daniel French, a Syracuse lawyer representing the Cayuga Indian
Nation of New York, said the Cayugas are pleased with Hurd's ruling.
French said the decision offers another reason for Cayuga and Seneca counties
"to begin meaningful negotiations with the Cayuga Nation regarding their
inevitable return to their ancestral homeland."
In late March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city of Sherrill could
collect taxes on ancestral land that the Oneidas had recently acquired. That
decision reversed an earlier ruling by Hurd in the case.
Drawing heavily from the Supreme Court decision, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court
of Appeals dismissed the Cayuga land claim in June, saying the Cayugas and
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma had waited too long to reclaim their 64,015-acre
homeland around the north end of Cayuga Lake. The decision also nullified
the $247.9 million judgment that had been jointly awarded to both nations in
2001.
Since then, the Cayugas have temporarily shut down their video gaming halls
in Union Springs and Seneca Falls, and the Seneca-Cayugas paid a $70,186
delinquent tax bill to Cayuga County. The Oklahoma tribe owns a 229-acre farm in
Aurelius.
Marshall said he believes the Cayugas should have to pay taxes and that the
county should be able to foreclose on any tax-delinquent property they own.
"If the land is taxable and you own the land and haven't paid the taxes, the
recourse is for the government to take the land and sell it for back taxes,"
he said.

__________________
Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.

Blackbear

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FROM: THE SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD NEWSPAPER - NEWSFLASH SECTION
_http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1130446144
24340.xml&storylist=ny_
(http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/re...l&storylist=ny)
Judge Says County Can't Foreclose On Indian Land
10/27/2005, 6:30 p.m. ET

The Associated Press
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that Madison County cannot
seize Oneida Indian Nation property over unpaid taxes.
U.S. District Judge David Hurd said while the nation owed property taxes to
the Madison County, the county "must find an alternate method to satisfy the
Nation's debt to the county" because the Oneidas are a sovereign nation.
"There is a vast difference between requiring real property owned by a
sovereign nation to be taxed and to comply with local zoning and land use
regulations, and allowing ownership of real property to be seized from that sovereign
nation," Hurd wrote.
"The seizing of land owned by a sovereign nation strikes directly at the very
heart of that nation's sovereignty ... permitting the seizure of lands from
a sovereign nation should require, at the very least, a specific act of
Congress," Hurd said. "...it will not occur as the result of a ruling from this
forum."
Hurd said he expected his decision to be appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of
Appeals.
Rocco DiVeronica, chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors, said
the county's lawyers were reviewing the decision and would consider the
county's legal options.
"Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed by this decision," DiVeronica
said.
Madison County officials say the tribe owes nearly $3 million in back taxes,
penalties and interest on 113 parcels.
The county first started foreclosure proceedings in 1999, but the Oneidas
filed a federal lawsuit a year later to halt the foreclosures. The case was put
on hold until another case involving the Oneidas and the city of Sherrill was
decided.
The Sherrill case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in March that
former reservation lands reacquired by the tribe were not exempt from taxes or
local laws.
Hurd said his ruling did not conflict with the Sherrill decision.
"The Supreme Court in Sherrill simply foreclosed the nation from obtaining
the remedy of immunity from taxes," he said.
Hurd said he found four legal reasons why the remedy of foreclosure was not
available to the county: the Non-Intercourse Act of 1790, tribal sovereign
immunity, due process and state law.
The nation's properties are inalienable under the Non-Intercourse Act and
immune from lawsuits because of their sovereign status and because state law
exempts reservation land from taxation, Hurd said. Additionally, the county's
foreclosure notice to the Oneidas failed to comply with due process provisions
because the county gave the tribe only a six-month redemption period, instead
of the two-year period required by law, the judge said.
The Oneida Indian Nation had no specific comment about Hurd's ruling.
"The Nation will continue to work hard for agreements that meet the financial
needs of our neighbors and move the area forward," said nation spokesman
Mark Emery.
Earlier this month, the Oneidas said they had reached a five-year agreement
to pay nearly $60,000 in back taxes to Sherrill and continue to pay future
taxes on time, at least while the contract was in effect. The tribe also said it
would obey all city codes and allow city inspectors onto nation property.
Hurd's ruling was blasted by officials to the west in Seneca County, which is
embroiled in a land claim dispute with the Cayuga Indians. County Attorney
Stephen Getman called Hurd's ruling "judicial activism" and said it defied the
U.S. Supreme Court.

__________________
Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.