MADERA -- County officials agreed behind closed doors Tuesday to talks aimed at settling a property-tax dispute over the $150-million Chukchansi Gold Casino before a public hearing next month. 

The closed session of the Madera County Board of Supervisors was listed as a conference with legal counsel about "significant exposure to litigation." The case -- Picayune Rancheria vs. Madera County Assessor -- hasn't yet been filed in Superior Court. 

County Counsel David Prentice said after the meeting that the idea is to talk with Chukchansi tribal representatives before a public Board of Supervisors session scheduled for May 19. A mutual solution before then could also end the risk of a lawsuit. 

Prentice described the meetings as "just discussions." The time and place hadn't yet been set, but the public will not be invited. He compared it to a private settlement negotiation. 

"You can't have frank discussions with people looking over your shoulder," Prentice said. 

Any decisions reached wouldn't become official until the Board of Supervisors approves. That would be public record. The talks could result in a full solution "or just fine-tuning the issues," Prentice said. 

Chairman Vern Moss said the board wouldn't be involved in the preliminary talks. He described the mood behind closed doors Tuesday as a willingness to negotiate. 

"It could end up in court," Assessor Thomas Kidwell said in his nearby Madera County Government Center office. "We hope not, but everybody has their right."
The Picayune Rancheria and Cascade Entertainment Group of Sacramento are building the casino-resort on tribal land they insist is exempt from taxation. Future property taxes could bring the county up to an estimated $1.5 million annually. 

The Chukchansi tribe has applied for formal federal trust-land status. That would exempt the casino site from county property taxes. For now, the tax dispute is between the tribe and Madera County. 

The tribe wants a refund on property taxes it already paid on six parcels of land. The county claims the federal government removed those six parcels from trust protection in the 1950s. County records show that $16,748 was paid on that property near Coarsegold in 2001. 

If no agreement is reached, the Board of Supervisors next month would sit as a quasi-judicial body deciding whether the taxpayer/tribe is owed a refund. It's a process that any taxpayer could request. 

"County counsel represents the Board of Supervisors and will be advising them during the hearing," Kidwell said. "As such, they've declared a potential conflict and advised that I seek counsel to help present my case." 

The board already has agreed to pay Kidwell's legal fees -- reportedly $185 per hour -- to retain Sacramento lawyer Dennis M. Cota. 

All five county supervisors and Kidwell are elected public officials. Kidwell depicted the whole process as just answering another taxpayer's question. 

The reporter can be reached at cmccarthy@fresnobee.com or 675-6804.