MADERA -- A decision on whether Madera County should return taxes it collected on land where Chukchansi Gold Casino expects to open in late June won't be made until July 14. 

A daylong taxpayer protest hearing Monday left the county Board of Supervisors with a thick stack of documents and complicated testimony from lawyers representing Madera County Assessor Thomas P. Kidwell and the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians. 

The case touches on whether the county has jurisdiction, or whether the Picayune Rancheria is a separate nation.
"We do not submit to your jurisdiction," tribal Chairwoman Dixie Jackson told the board. 

In March, the rancheria filed with the U.S. Department of the Interior to put the casino land under federal trust. That would make future taxation arguments moot, both sides agreed. 

At issue is the legality of $80,000 in taxes the county has collected on about 80 acres where the casino stands nearly ready for gaming. Tribal lawyers Michael J. Anderson of Washington, D.C., and Mark A. Levitan of Sacramento said $40,000 was paid just last week. 

Despite a pending application to return the acreage to federal trust status, it's now "the same as any other property," Kidwell contended.
"My responsibility is to assess all property," he testified.
Anderson said that collecting the taxes was "a dark cloud in the relationship between the tribe and the county." 

Anderson and Levitan presented a legal argument citing a number of federal and state court decisions dating back to a 1912 federal executive order signed by President William Howard Taft establishing several reservations, including the Picayune. 

Lawyer Dennis M. Cota of Sacramento, representing Kidwell, argued that ownership changes through the years removed the six land parcels in question from Indian ownership, making them no longer exempt. 

The county hired Cota to represent Kidwell. County Counsel David Prentice will help review the arguments and advise the Board of Supervisors before its July decision. 

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