MADERA -- The Madera County Board of Supervisors allowed the Chukchansi Indian tribe to withdraw its request Tuesday for a refund of property taxes on the tribe's $150 million gaming complex in Coarsegold. 

The supervisors' decision frustrated some in the audience because it delayed again a question that has plagued Madera County for more than a year: Is the land beneath the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino subject to property taxes?
That question continues to be at the core of several problems facing the tribe. They include about $17 million in mechanics' liens filed by several unpaid subcontractors who worked on the resort-casino. 

A mechanic's lien is a legal claim to property for nonpayment of materials or work, or both, provided to improve the property. 

"The Madera County Board of Supervisors' lack of action today sent a very clear message to all of the suffering tradesmen and women that they are on their own," said David Hayden, a former site manager for the resort-casino, who became an advocate for the unpaid subcontractors. 

He said more than 50 local residents have lost their jobs because of the tribe's nonpayment. 

Madera County Counsel David Prentice advised the board to accept the tribe's Dec. 3 letter withdrawal of its claim for a refund. He advised supervisors to "conclude these proceedings without further comment."
The letter signed by tribal Chairwoman Dixie Jackson and Vice Chairwoman Mary Martinez told the county that, despite dropping its refund claims, the tribe "does not recognize any continuing jurisdiction of the County Board of Supervisors in this matter."
The next paragraph warned that the voluntary withdrawal "does not alter any right of the tribe to a refund of the property taxes on the above-referenced parcels."