Indian Tribes Sue Wisconsin Claiming Exemption from Property Tax

From Wisconsin Public Radio:

Four northern Wisconsin tribes have filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Scott Walker, the state and town officials over the taxation of reservation lands. The tribes argue the state and towns don’t have the right to tax reservation lands.  The complaint was filed Friday, Nov. 30, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District Court of Wisconsin by the Red Cliff, Bad River, Lac du Flambeau and Lac Courte Oreilles tribes. They contend the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, 11 towns and their assessors have been taxing fee simple lands on reservations in violation of the Treaty of 1854 between the United States government and Lake Superior Chippewa. Fee simple lands mean that the owner of the property can do whatever they want with the land, without being subject to limitations or conditions.  “The 1854 Treaty does not authorize the imposition of state taxes of any kind on the property of the tribes located within the reservations created therein,” the complaint reads. “None of the historical documents relating to the negotiation of the 1854 Treaty indicate that the Indians were told that the lands reserved for them by the 1854 Treaty would be subject to state property taxes.”

The Plaintiffs are represented by the Colette Routel of the Indian Law Litigation Clinic at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul Minnesota.  The full complaint, particularly starting at paragraph 37, makes for very interesting and instructive reading regarding tax exemption of tribal lands.  

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