Hildreth said he has “a right to defend” himself. He stated the tribe has received million in public monies over the last 10 years, which means, he says, the group should pay property taxes. “They want it both ways, and from what I understand, commissioners have been offered quite a substantial contribution from Poarch contingent on you cutting my legal fee budget,” Hildreth said, referring to 0,000 offered to the county for road projects and his request to raise the legal-fees budget from ,000 to 0,000.
Mediation will begin September 29, to determine whether the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama must pay an estimated $3.5 million annually in ad valorem taxes, plus an estimated $20 million in back taxes. The mediation was required by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which recently upheld a lower court’s opinion that the state cannot regulate gaming on tribal lands. The suit had been brought by the tribe against Escambia County Tax Assessor James H. Hildreth, who sought to collect $22.3 million in taxes from the tribe’s Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in Atmore, Alabama.
Although federal courts continually have ruled on the side of the tribe regarding the status of tribal lands, Escambia County has challenged those rulings since 2012.
Tribal Chairwoman Stephanie Bryan said, “It is unfortunate that Mr. Hildreth continues to be unrelenting in his baseless claims against the tribe. First, he insisted that he could tax our tribal land that is held in trust by the United States and would have issued an assessment in violation of well-established federal law if the tribe had not protected its sovereignty by requesting an injunction from a federal court. Now, what Mr. Hildreth has failed to mention is that the tribe has a history, which pre-dates the tax dispute, of being good neighbors and donating to many schools, law enforcement agencies and organizations throughout the state. Last year alone, we donated $6.9 million. Mr. Hildreth disappointingly continues to waste taxpayer dollars on a legal position that is frivolous, costly and that he does not recognize the goodwill being built between the Tribe and its neighbors.”
Hildreth said he has “a right to defend” himself. He stated the tribe has received $43 million in public monies over the last 10 years, which means, he says, the group should pay property taxes. “They want it both ways, and from what I understand, commissioners have been offered quite a substantial contribution from Poarch contingent on you cutting my legal fee budget,” Hildreth said, referring to $500,000 offered to the county for road projects and his request to raise the legal-fees budget from $45,000 to $110,000.
Commissioner Raymond Wiggins and others objected and said those funds are in “no way a bribe. Montgomery and Elmore counties have been working with the tribe from day number one. No one asked them to do anything, and they didn’t ask us to do anything for the money,” Wiggins said. Commissioner Brandon Smith added, “Not one time has anyone from Poarch said if you vote this way, we’ll do this. Not one time. Poarch has not mentioned Hildreth’s budget to me, but everybody else in the county has. They are fed up with the lawsuit. They don’t understand the budget crunches while he’s cadillac-ing right along with those legal fees and asking for more. They don’t understand it and don’t like it. And I agree with them.”
However, County Commission Chairman David Stokes agreed with Hildreth. “The tribe has great latitude in what they do. For anyone to sit here and say they aren’t influenced – that this budget is not being influenced by members of the tribe – is flat out wrong. They are being influenced, and it is unfortunate to not let you do your job. We’re supposed to ignore $23 million in revenue? The money we get from Poarch goes for pet road projects in our districts. The money Hildreth is trying to collect goes for school children, cities, county and we’re depriving him of the opportunity to do that if the commission does not support the suit.”
Hildreth will leave office at the end of the month. Newly elected Tax Assessor Thad Moore Jr. has not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
