CHICAGO - South Dakota last week announced a tax collection agreement with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, the third such tribal agreement that increases the percentage of state tax revenue collected on the reservations that is returned to the tribes.
The latest agreement will allow the Standing Rock tribe to receive about $490,000 of additional tax revenue each year from current tribal taxes. The state increased the tribe's share of the taxes to 63% from 47%, said Mark Johnston, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Rounds. In addition, the agreement, which takes effect in January, established a new motor-fuel tax to be shared with the tribe, he said.
The state collects sales, use, and motor-fuel taxes on reservation land and then disburses a share of the revenues to the tribes, Johnston said. The tax agreements for many of the state's tribes have not been updated since 1991, he added.
The state has signed a similar agreement with two other tribes, Johnston said. The Cheyenne River Sioux tribe in Eagle Butte signed a sales tax agreement with that state that will bring in about $1 million in additional revenue each year for the tribe, he said. That tax agreement became effective in November.
A new motor-fuel tax agreement with the Oglala Sioux tribe in Pine Ridge will mean an additional $900,000, based on the number of gallons of gasoline sold on the reservation in 2003, according to Johnston. Those funds will be used for road improvement and economic development on the reservation, he said. That tax agreement started this month.
After coming to office, Rounds met with nine tribes in order to learn about what was they needed for economic development, Johnston said.
"When Gov. Rounds took office back in January, it was important for him to establish a working relationship with the tribes on projects and efforts that are important to that tribe," the spokesman said. "Because development doesn't stop at the reservation borders."
The projects that have been considered are varied, he noted. The Cheyenne River tribe plans to begin construction in March of the first nursing home on tribal ground in South Dakota. The Lower Brule Sioux tribe received a state grant to study the creation of a branded beef product. Cattle raised on the reservation would be sold under a tribal brand name, Johnston said.
The federal government does not collect taxes on the reservations but keeps a percentage of the sales, use, and motor-fuel taxes it collects on the reservation, he added.
