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Last amended: 1999
§ 6.100 POLICY.
From time to time the Siletz Tribal Council may authorize the distribution of monies to classes of enrolled members or all enrolled members of the Siletz Tribe, and not in response to individual applications for services or financial assistance. These monies may derive from a variety of sources of funds. The Tribal Council enacts this Distribution Ordinance to ensure that such distributions occur in a fair, timely, and equitable, manner.
§ 6.101 SCOPE.
(a) Source of Monies. This Ordinance covers distributions of monies to enrolled tribal members from sources other than revenues of the Siletz Tribe's gaming enterprise: Per capita distributions of gaming revenues are covered by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and will be addressed, at an appropriate time, in the Tribe's Distribution of Net Revenues Ordinance, Ordinance No. 99-224, approved on July 6,1999.
(b) Size of Distribution. This Ordinance covers "per capita" distributions of monies to enrolled tribal members. Such per capita distributions may be made to all enrolled members of the Tribe or may, at the discretion of the Tribal Council, be made to identifiable classes of the Siletz Tribe, for example, elders or minors.
(c) Exclusions. This Ordinance does not cover distributions of monies to tribal members which are subject to restrictions in use, or tribal monies which are distributed to individual tribal members or groups of tribal members in response to an application for services or financial assistance, or in response to an assessment of need for a particular service or program. This Ordinance is intended to cover monies which are distributed by the Tribe to enrolled tribal members for no specified purpose.
§ 6.102 Procedure.
(a) Tribal Council Action. The Tribal Council shall commence the process of distributing tribal monies to enrolled tribal members by passage of a resolution. Proposed distribution of tribal monies under this ordinance shall be announced to the tribal membership through notice in the posted Tribal Council Agenda, by publication in the tribal newsletter, or otherwise. Passage of a distribution resolution shall be set as a separate agenda item, and tribal members shall be given the opportunity to provide public comment,on the proposed distribution at the time the resolution is considered by the Tribal Council.
(b) Contents of Resolution. A Tribal Council resolution to distribute tribal monies to enrolled tribal members shall not be effective unless the following items are specifically addressed in the resolution:
(1) the source of tribal funds which will fund the distribution to enrolled tribal members;
(2) the amount of money that will be distributed to each enrolled tribal member included within the distribution;
(3) to whom the distribution will be made - to all tribal members or to a particular, identifiable class of tribal members. If the distribution is being made to less than all enrolled tribal members, the resolution shall include a justification for making the distribution to the smaller group of enrolled tribal members;
(4) the cut-off date for enrollment to qualify for the distribution;
(5) the date when the distribution will be mailed out or available for pickup at the main tribal office;
(6) an opinion by an attorney employed or retained by the Tribe on the taxable status of the distribution.
(c) Enrollment Office Action.
(1) Preparation of Distribution List. Distributions of monies under this Ordinance shall be limited to enrolled members of the Siletz Tribe as of a specified cutoff date. Tribal enrollment must be final as of that date to qualify for a distribution. Upon passage of a Tribal Council distribution resolution, the resolution shall be forwarded to the Tribal Enrollment Office for preparation of a distribution enrollment list. Such list shall consist of all enrolled tribal members who are eligible for the distribution.
(2) Notice of Proposed Distribution. Thirty days before the distribution deadline, the Enrollment Office shall send notice to each eligible enrolled tribal member at the address on file with the Tribe, notifying them of the proposed distribution, the amount of the distribution; and the date when the distribution shall take place. If the tribal member does not have a Social Security number on file with the Enrollment Office, the Office shall notify the tribal member that a Social Security number is necessary before monies can be distributed to that member. A copy of an official Social Security card shall be sufficient evidence of a member's Social Security number.
(3) Forwarding of Distribution List. Within two weeks of the distribution cut-off date, a list of the enrolled tribal members eligible for the distribution shall be forwarded by the Enrollment Office to the Tribal Council (without addresses) for informational purposes and to the Tribal Accounting Office (with addresses) for processing of distribution checks.
(d) Accounting Office Action. Upon receipt of the distribution list from the Enrollment Office, the Accounting Office shall prepare checks for distribution to enrolled tribal members on the distribution list. The checks shall be issued and mailed on the first business day after the date specified in the Tribal Council distribution resolution. Eligible tribal members may pick up their distribution checks in person at the Tribal Accounting Office on the specified distribution date, after signing for such checks and providing photo identification documenting identity.
§ 6.103 DISTRIBUTIONS TO MINORS, ADULTS UNDER A LEGAL DISABILITY, AND TO DECEASED TRIBAL MEMBERS.
(a) Appointment of Trust Officer. The Tribal Council shall appoint a Trust Officer, for a specified term, to be responsible for distributions of monies to enrolled tribal members. The Trust Officer may be a designated tribal employee, a financial or investment institution, or any other appropriate person or entity. The Trust Officer shall be bonded to perform his or her duties under this Ordinance. Compensation for the performance of such duties shall be decided by the Tribal Council.
(b) Distributions to Minors.
(1) For purposes of this Ordinance, a minor shall be defined as any enrolled tribal member who has not reached the age of eighteen (18). When a distribution occurs pursuant to this Ordinance, all distributions to enrolled tribal members who are minors as of the date of distribution shall not be distributed to the minor; instead, the distribution shall be maintained in trust for the benefit of the minor until he or she reaches the age majority, at which time any and all amounts (plus accumulated earnings) shall be distributed in a lump sum to the member. An application to the Trust Officer, who shall have thirty (30) days to review and process the application, shall be required to obtain release of distribution finds when a minor reaches age eighteen.
(2) The Trust Officer shall be responsible for setting up and managing a trust account or accounts with an appropriate financial or investment institution to maintain distribution funds for minors and adults under a legal disability. The form of the trust account (for example, individual trust accounts for each minor or one trust account for all minors) shall be at the discretion of the Trust Officer, so long as the balance and accumulated earnings can be separately identified and monitored for each individual with funds held in trust and the account or accounts meet fiduciary standards.
(3) The Trust Officer shall determine the custodial parent(s) or legal custodian of any minor whose distribution funds are being held in trust, and shall develop regulations, subject to the approval of the Tribal Council, addressing how information about custodial status or changes in custodial status shall be supplied to the Trust Officer and in what form. In the event of a dispute about who is the legal custodian of a minor whose distribution funds are being maintained in trust by the Trust Officer, the Trust Officer may petition the Tribal Court for a determination of the issue.
(4) Reports of trust account status, including accumulated earnings, shall be sent on a semiannual basis to the parent or legal custodian of the minor whose distribution funds are being held in trust.
(c) Distributions to Adults Under a Legal Disability.
(1) A presumption shall exist for any adult enrolled tribal member eligible for a distribution that such member is entitled to receive a distribution on the distribution date. Certain adults, however, may have been adjudged non compos mentis by a court of competent jurisdiction or be under some other legal disability which makes it likely that such persons will be unable to receive, preserve or reasonably expend distribution funds if such funds were directly disbursed to such adult. In such event, the Trust Officer shall deposit distribution monies for that adult into a trust account(s) and maintain those funds under the same standards and principles set out for minors in subsection (b) of this section.
(2) Status as an adult subject to a legal disability shall be determined by the Trust Officer on a case by case basis: Such status shall normally be shown by a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction which has placed an adult in the legal custody of a guardian, conservator or institution because of a legal disability. The Trust Officer may recognize the designation of a guardian, conservator or other form of trustee made by a federal or state agency for purposes of distributing funds for the benefit of an adult who is subject to a legal disability. The Trust Officer shall have authority to petition the Tribal Court to adjudge an adult tribal member as subject to a legal disability if the Trust Officer determines that the adult requires assistance in preserving his or her distribution funds. In such case, if the Tribal Court issues an appropriate order, that member's distribution funds shall be placed in a trust account under this section.
(3) In the event a court of competent jurisdiction determines that an adult is no longer subject to a legal disability and releases the adult from the custody of a guardian, conservator or institution, the Trust Officer shall disburse all distribution funds held in trust for the benefit of that member to him or her in timely fashion upon application by that member for release of his or her funds.
(d) Deceased Individuals.
(1) Any person who is an enrolled tribal member on the cut-off date for a tribal distribution is entitled to disbursement of the distribution amount. In the event an eligible enrolled tribal member dies between the distribution cutoff date and the date when the distribution funds are to be disbursed, that member's distribution monies shall be disbursed to the member's legal heirs, except as set forth below. It shall be the responsibility of the heirs to provide sufficient proof to the Trust Officer for the Trust Officer to determine who should receive the deceased tribal member's distribution monies. The Trust Officer may issue regulations, subject to Tribal Council approval, setting out the documentation necessary to release funds under this subsection. In the event of a dispute about who are the legal heirs of a deceased tribal member, the Trust Officer may petition the Tribal Court for a determination of this issue; and shall disburse the deceased member's distribution monies to the person or persons identified in the Tribal Court's order.
(2) In the event a deceased tribal member's estate is subject to a probate proceeding or other legal proceedings have been initiated by creditors or other persons or entities seeking to obtain the deceased member's assets, the Trust Officer may pay the distribution monies which would have been disbursed to that member into the court for disbursement as the court determines.
(e) Disbursement of Funds Held in Trust for a Minor or Adult Under a Legal Disability.
(1) Monies held in trust pursuant to this section on behalf of a minor or adult under a legal disability may be disbursed only for extraordinary purposes by the Trust Officer to a parent, guardian, conservator, or other person or entity with legal custody of the minor or adult to meet specific needs of the minor. The Trust Officer shall develop regulations, subject to approval by the Tribal Council, setting out the purposes for which funds may be disbursed under this subsection, and an application process by which requests for disbursement of funds for extraordinary purposes may be made to the Trust Officer.
(2) A parent, guardian, conservator, or other person or entity with legal custody of a minor or adult may petition the Trust Officer for disbursement of monies held in trust for that tribal member for specific purposes. The Trust Officer shall decide whether to approve the disbursement request. The decision of the Trust Officer shall be final.
(f) Accounting. The Trust Officer shall submit an annual accounting of all monies held in trust under this Ordinance to the Tribal Council and to the Tribal Accounting Office. Such accounting shall be completed within sixty (60) days after the end of the calendar year.
§ 6.104 ATTACHMENT OF DISTRIBUTION MONIES.
Monies held by the Tribe or Trust Officer for distribution to eligible enrolled tribal members shall not be subject to attachment. Upon receipt of a certified court order, including but not limited to child support orders, from a court of competent jurisdiction attaching assets of an enrolled tribal member, the Trust Officer shall forward distribution monies belonging to the tribal member subject to such order to the person or entity designated therein in an amount, if available, sufficient to satisfy the order. It shall be the responsibility of the tribal member contesting the validity or effect of any such court order to petition an appropriate court to obtain relief from such order. The Tribe and Trust Officer shall have no responsibility to take any independent action with regard to such an order.
§ 6.105 TAXATION OF DISTRIBUTION MONIES.
Certain monies, such as revenues generated by the sale of timber harvested from the Tribe's reservation trust lands, have been determined to be free from federal and state taxation when such revenues are distributed to tribal members. Other monies may be subject to taxation under applicable principles of law. The Tribe shall not deduct taxes - federal, state, tribal or otherwise - when monies are distributed to enrolled tribal members under this Ordinance. It shall be the responsibility of each tribal member, and of the Trust Officer in appropriate circumstances, to decide whether to pay taxes on monies distributed to enrolled tribal members under this Ordinance, and to actually pay such taxes, and a statement to this effect shall be included when any monies are disbursed to tribal members pursuant to this Ordinance. When a tribal attorney has concluded, pursuant to § 6.102(b)(6) of this Ordinance, that a specific distribution of monies under this Ordinance may be taxable, a copy of that opinion shall be included with each check distributed to tribal members.
§ 6.106 ENFORCEMENT.
The Trust Officer shall have authority to petition the Tribal Court to determine any dispute or issue which may arise under this Ordinance, in his or her discretion, and the District Court shall have original jurisdiction over such petitions.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing ordinance was adopted by the Siletz Tribal Council at a Regular
Council meeting held on July 18, 1999 at which a quorum was present, and the
ordinance was amended by a vote of 9 FOR, 0 AGAINST, and 0
ABSTAINING.
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SILETZ TRIBAL COUNCIL By /s/ |
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Tribal Member Distribution Ordinance
Adopted July 18, 1999 by Resolution #99-249