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More than 20 years after gaining recognition from the federal government, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians is reaping the financial rewards of diversifying its interests from gaming.
by Stacy D. StumboProgress for the tribe has not come without criticism, because tribal ownership enables land to be placed in trust, rendering it tax-exempt.
The Cow Creeks own 16 businesses -- the largest remains the Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort in Canyonville. It employs 1,176 people countywide, and is planning developments that could employ thousands more.
The tribe owns 250 acres on the west side of Interstate 5 across from the casino that is part of the $25 million Creekside Development Project. Once complete, it will include a 190-space RV park, a 250-room expansion of the Seven Feathers Hotel, an I-5 rest stop, and an as-yet- unknown tourist attraction.
Other assets include the Holiday Motel and the former Douglas County Farmers Co-op property in downtown Roseburg. The tribe plans to build a convention center and create other development there in the future.
Cow Creek Chairwoman Sue Shaffer said the tribe was looking for ways to revitalize Douglas County's economy after the timber industry began to wane in the 1980s. Starting with the casino, the tribe's efforts have ranged from beef jerky production to telecommunications.
The tribe has purchased roughly 4,127 acres in Douglas County that are in trust, according to the county assessor's office. American Indian land that is in trust is federally recognized and held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, precluding it from taxation.
Douglas County Assessor Ron Northcraft said it's difficult to ascertain precisely how much money has been removed from the tax rolls due to tribal acquisition.
"It depends on how you look at it," he said. "Is it tax value or real value that's lost? What was the value before they bought it and what is the value now?"Dave Matheny, the county's chief deputy assessor, said his office has to deal in hypotheticals when it comes to real value of lands that are in trust. He said the 24 acres in Canyonville, where the casino was built, may have had a value of $200,000 at the time the tribe bought it. Today, it may be worth $40 million.
"It's a two-edged sword," he said. "They may not pay tax on land that's in trust, but what about the money they've pumped into the community? If Intel or Dell had purchased it (the casino property), do you think they would have created as much interest in that community?" The tribe has other properties that are not in trust, and pays roughly $2 million annually in taxes, Matheny said."We're buying back our own land," Shaffer said. "And as for taxes, I don't hear anybody complaining about water districts and school districts not having to pay. We're a sovereign nation. We're trying to provide for our people."
Shaffer said now that the resources are available, one of the ways the tribe is trying to accomplish that is through health care and housing.
"We work with the person on every level -- from housing, to energy assistance, to health care," she said. "We even provide reimbursement for over-the-counter medications."Dr. Sharon Stanphill is health director of wellness services for the tribe. Before she came to Roseburg, she'd worked with the Klamath tribe, and before that, a tribe in Montana.
"I love what I do," she said. "It's incredibly rewarding."
Health clinic: A health clinic located at the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians government building in Roseburg is open to all tribal members, tribal employees and members of other federally recognized tribes. The tribe's clinic operates inside the Cow Creek Government Offices on Northeast Stephens Street in Roseburg and is staffed by two doctors and two nurses. It is funded through an annual agreement with Indian Health Services.
Michael Rondeau, tribal government operations officer, said the tribe obtained the contract in 1990, and built the clinic in 1998. It serves American Indians from a variety of tribes, not exclusively Cow Creeks.
The facility offers behavioral health, alcohol and drug treatment, diabetes screening, wellness checks and other services to roughly 100 patients each week.
Shaffer said the tribe doesn't regret obtaining properties and diversifying its interests in the community, considering the benefits it has yielded. Since the Cow Creeks were denied a reservation, the federal government has seen fit to compensate it in other ways, she said.
Enterprise zones are created for private businesses all the time to encourage growth by providing tax breaks, she pointed out. The Cow Creeks' developments entice thousands of people to the region each year and have created jobs. The tribe's annual payroll is $32 million, and the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation offers hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to area organizations each year, she said.
As part of a casino compact with the state, the tribe gives 6 percent of its annual revenue to charitable organizations. Shaffer said the tribe gives in excess of that out of commitment to the community.
Rondeau said the Cow Creek do pay all mandated federal and state employer taxes.
"In a lot of ways, we're like any other business," he said.
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