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JUNE 15, 2001

A federal judge in Montana on Thursday ruled that the Fort Peck Tribes cannot impose a 4 percent utility tax on a railroad company.

US District Judge Jack Shanstrom said the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes' tax does not apply to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The railroad has been granted a right of way within reservation boundaries and the tribe doesn't have taxation authority over the land, said Shanstrom.

The tribe says it will lose $2.2 million annually as a result.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year ruled that the Crow Tribes' utility tax was illegal. Federally granted rights-of-way are to be treated as fee land, said the court, and therefore tribes have little authority.

Get the Story:
Tribes’ rail tax declared illegal (The Billings Gazette 6/15)

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