Haines sues Tlingit and Haida over unpaid taxes
- Chilkat Valley News
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
In return, Tlingit and Haida asks that tribal-government-owned businesses be exempted in borough code from paying sales tax
By Will Steinfeld
Chilkat Valley News
The Haines Borough has filed a claim in court for unpaid sales tax from The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida, and in response, Tlingit and Haida is asking that tribal-government-owned businesses be exempted from borough sales tax.
Tlingit and Haida currently operates The Gathering Place, a short-term rental location on Lutak Road. According to a letter sent to the borough by the tribe, the tribe owes roughly $7,500 in unpaid sales tax remittance from the business.
The borough last month submitted a claim in Alaska Small Claims Court to collect the outstanding tax. That claim is moving forward, and could soon be scheduled for a hearing.
Borough chief finance officer Jila Stuart said the claim is part of standard borough procedure in code for the delinquent taxes. According to that code, the Small Claims Court claim comes only after three months of delinquency, multiple letters informing the delinquent taxpayer and notices in the newspaper.
Jessie Badger, the borough’s sales tax administrator, said the borough sent four letters to Tlingit and Haida and confirmed with The Gathering Place’s booking agent that the business did operate and collect sales tax. Then, on Aug. 15, the borough submitted the claims in court.
“We are just asking them for delinquent sales tax that they owe to the borough,” Badger said.
Badger also argued for a distinction on who was being taxed. “We’re not taxing them, we’re taxing their patrons. Their patrons aren’t exempt from anything,” Badger said.
Tlingit and Haida, however, is arguing that the borough should not be requiring sales tax from tribal-government-owned businesses in the first place, and asked the borough last month to delay the court claim. The borough has not done so.
In a response letter dated Aug. 29, Tlingit & Haida president Richard Peterson argued that exempting the tribe would bring the borough “in line with other municipalities in Southeast Alaska, including Juneau and Sitka.” Peterson also points in the letter to borough sales-tax exemptions for foreign, national, and state-government entities.
“Such an (exemption from sales tax) would properly place tribal governments on equal footing with virtually all other government entities under (borough code),” Peterson wrote. “This inclusion would also reflect the critical role that Tlingit & Haida, and other tribes in Alaska, play in the Haines community.”
Peterson made the same argument in a letter to former mayor Doug Olerud in June 2023.
A code change exempting tribal governments from sales tax would require assembly action. On Tuesday, the assembly scheduled tribal government exemptions for discussion at the next commerce committee meeting.
If any change goes forward, it will take the full assembly process of deliberation and public hearings, which would take weeks. All the while, borough staff said, at least until the assembly decides otherwise, the small claims court action will continue.
• This article was originally published by the Chilkat Valley News.
