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August 27, 2008

Mohawks welcome tax-collection talks

AKWESASNE -- St. Regis Mohawks say Gov. David Paterson could cost the North Country $2 million a year if he taxes tobacco-products sales on American Indian reservations.

In a letter sent Friday, Chief James Ransom of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council said the bill "like similar legislation proposed before it, will harm the northern New York economy not help it.

"The economic impact could be greater than $2 million per year," he said.

A survey conducted in 2003, commissioned by the Mohawk Anti-Tax Steering Committee, determined the anticipated economic impacts would reach into the millions if an increase in gasoline and tobacco-sales tax were collected on the Mohawk territory.

The Mohawks say they already collect $4 million in fees from the businesses that sell tobacco products and that those fees pay for badly needed services in the community, such as St. Regis Mohawk Police Department, health-care services, educational programs and services and programs for senior citizens.

Tax collection "will also result in a loss of jobs that no one in the state is even considering," said Chief Barbara Lazore.

Paterson said he would meet with tribal leadership across the state to talk about the planned tax collections, a step the Mohawks found encouraging.

Tribal Chief Monica Jacobs said, "the Tribe has always been open to having such a dialogue.

"We believe that building a positive relationship is the key to resolving many of the differences between the state and us."

The Tribal Council asked for a meeting with the governor to "have an open and frank discussion in regards to the state-tax concerns.

"It is only by building a positive relationship that state-tax concerns can be mutually addressed," said Ransom.

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