Native American files suit over tax

A local Native American tribe is suing Riverside County regarding a tax that tribal official believe is illegal.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians filed a lawsuit in federal court that seeks to prevent the county from collecting a “possessory interest tax”, which the tribe maintains is illegal, according to report originally published in The Press-Enterprise.

In the suit, tribal officials claim that revenue from the tax is not spent locally. They also cite a ruling last year by the U.S. Department of the Interior that stated that tax interferes with tribal sovereign rights, according to the report.

County officials say the tax is applied to non-tribal members who rent property on the reservation, and that revenue from the tax is used to pay for public services, according to the report.

The Agua Caliente tribe maintains a 32,000-acre reservation in the Coachella Valley, and it owns and operates the Agua Caliente Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage and the Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs.