TRIBAL
MEMBER DISTRIBUTION ORDINANCE
§
6.100
§ 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/
Delores Pigsley
Tribal Chairman
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ATTEST:
/s/
Mary "Dolly" Fisher
Tribal Council Secretary/Treasurer
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Tribal
Member Distribution Ordinance
Adopted July 18, 1999 by Resolution #99-249
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