Fueled by gambling profits, local American Indian tribes are looking to expand their reservations, and their neighbors are beginning to take notice.
For decades, tribes were largely poor and dependent on the federal government to provide them land to live on. But since California voters approved casinos on Indian land in 2000, tribes have used their gambling wealth to buy more land to build housing, start businesses and to preserve it for future generations.
Local planners and other officials say the county is losing control and tax revenue from the land being transferred to tribal ownership.
In North County, at least two land transfers have created controversy.
The Valley Center-Pauma Valley School District filed a lawsuit in September hoping to stop the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians from taking into the tribe's reservation a 9-acre parcel that abuts Valley Center Middle School.
Fallbrook residents, including members of the Fallbrook Community Planning Group, objected in 2009 when the Pala Band of Mission Indians erected a Las Vegas-style sign on property the tribe owns near Interstate 15 and Highway 76. The billboard was taken down by the tribe in 2009 after county code enforcement officials said it violated zoning ordinances. Pala plans to take the property and other parcels into federal trust.
In October, the planning group released a report outlining a number of problems it said would be caused by the land transfers, including the loss of property tax revenue.
Members of the group say they fear Pala may try to reinstall the sign. They say the land transfers will cause other problems, as well.
"It's not just this piece of property," said Jim Russell, chairman of the Fallbrook Community Planning Group. "There is a lot of land (that tribes want to take into trust)."
According to county officials, local tribes have asked the federal government to put more than 13,000 acres into federal trust since 2000. Once the land is in federal trust for a tribe, county officials can no longer collect property taxes nor enforce land-use rules.
Doug Elmets, a spokesman for Pala, said the tribe does not plan put a billboard on the property or conduct any gambling on it.
"The Pala tribe has applied to take the land into trust in order to establish a visitors center that will display the cultural heritage of the tribes of the Pauma and Pala valley," Elmets said. "The visitors center will be a small portion of the land, and the rest will remain open space."
Of the more than 13,000 acres tribes have asked to turn into reservation land, nearly 5,000 acres have been approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, according to an analysis conducted by the county. The rest of the land was in the process of being transferred to the tribes, according to the county's analysis.
The county can comment and make recommendations on the tribes' applications, but it is the Department of the Interior that has the authority to approve or deny land transfers.
In total, the county stands to lose more than $1.3 million in property tax revenue, according to the analysis. But the potential loss is even greater because businesses that are built on tribal land cannot be taxed the same way they are on nontribal land, county officials wrote in the study.
"The county does not receive sales tax revenue from commercial activities on lands taken into trust; yet the county remains responsible for addressing ongoing offsite impacts associated with the use of these commercial parcels," wrote Sarah Aghassi, the county's deputy chief administrative officer, in the analysis.
Elmets said Pala's proposal would not burden county safety personnel.
"There will be a minor reduction in property tax revenue, however there will be no burden on county resources because Pala's fire department is the primary fire and safety responder for the property," he said. "Pala also has established mutual and automatic aid agreements with surrounding departments. In addition, Pala's agreement with San Diego County includes contributions for law enforcement and fire services that exceeds the tax value of the property."
Although not required, Pala also plans to follow all local land-use and building ordinances, Elmets said.
Four North County tribes and the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians in Temecula have asked for a total of 5,253 acres in San Diego County to be turned into reservation property, according to the county's analysis dated May 11, 2011. Since the study was released, the Rincon Band of Mission Indians submitted a petition to transfer 520 acres the tribe owns near its Valley Center reservation into federal trust.
Rincon officials said the tribe plans to preserve the land with an eye to possibly developing it in the future. No gambling will take place on the property, officials said.
The county Board of Supervisors has a long-standing policy of opposing tribal land transfers out of concern the land could be used for building casinos. It has opposed a number of the petitions, including the 9-acre parcel requested by San Pasqual, saying that the environmental study required as part of the application was deficient.
Supervisor Bill Horn, whose district includes most North County tribes, said the county looks at each proposal individually.
"The board reviews these applications on a case-by-case basis," Horn said. "While the final authority rests with the federal government, the county has done an effective job of working with tribes to find a mutually beneficial agreement while respecting their sovereignty."
Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.