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LAURA SMITH (Macalester College)
"Impacts of American Indian Land Transfers on Minnesota Counties"
Relationships between American Indian tribes and local governments can
easily become strained by economic issues. An initiative on the part
of an Indian tribe to place one or more parcels of land into trust status
inevitably produces a variety of political and economic reactions and
consequences for the tribe and for county and local governments. Federal
approval of such an application removes those lands from county property
tax rolls, and from state and local regulation. In the state of Minnesota,
county governments have opposed the placement of lands in trust by tribes
because of concerns over the loss of tax revenue and shifting tax burdens,
as well as possible increased service and infrastructure costs and business
competition.
In this paper, I examine the impacts of trust land transfers on counties
in the state of Minnesota, using case studies and data on property values
and tax revenues. The outcomes of these proposed land transfers differ
based on factors such as location within the state and proximity to
urban areas, as well as the type of tribal development proposed (e.g.
gaming).
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