WHAT KEEPS THE
TREASURER UP AT NIGHT?
JOHN B. CARROLL, TREASURER
SALT RIVER PIMA-MARICOPA INDIAN COMMUNITY
OVERVIEW OF THE SALT RIVER
PIMA-MARICOPA INDIAN
COMMUNITYSovereign tribe, established 1879
52,600 acres
10,000 enrolled community members
Approximately 6,000 members reside
on the Community
Pima, "Akimel O'Odham"
River People
Maricopa, "Xalychidom Piipaash"
People who live toward the water
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORRIDOR
A MIXTURE OF TRIBALLY OWNED
& THIRD-PARTY INVESTMENTS
TRIBALLY OWNED ASSETS
VS THIRD-PARTY INVESTMENTS
Provides needed services -Saddleback
Tribal exclusivity – Casino
Land development for landowner benefits – Devco & Golf
Spur economic development generally – Salt River Fields
Employment opportunities for Community members
Community retains 100% of sales taxes for Tribally owned businesses vs only 1.65% for non-tribally owned
Property tax assessed on all commercial properties, however, only 115 commercial properties assessed
Community member residential properties are exempt from property tax
The tax base on the reservation is substantially smaller than other
municipalities, yet essential public safety, corrections and
educational services are still necessary.
TRIBALLY-OWNED ASSETS
TRIBALLY-OWNED ASSETS
11,000 seating capacity
12 practice fields
Other events
Russo and Steele Auto Auction
Arizona Taco Festival
Street Eats Food Truck Festival
TRIBALLY-OWNED ASSETS
cement manufacturing
Salt River Sand & Rock
fly ash, pozzolan & aggregates
TRIBALLY-OWNED ASSETS
incumbent local exchange carrier
hosted voice over internet (VoIP)
call center solutions
THIRD PARTY INVESTMENTS
THIRD PARTY INVESTMENTS
UNIQUE ASPECTS OF DOING
BUSINESS ON TRIBAL LAND
Sovereign Immunity
Non-public financials
Land ownership
LAND OWNERSHIP
Retained in trust
• illiquid, limits the ability to monetize economic benefits immediately
Allotted Lands
• fractional ownership
• BIA involvement – commercial land leases on allotted land must be approved by the BIA, can frustrate the ability to monetize economic benefit
Tribal Land
• owned by the Community as a whole
FINANCIAL SAFETY NET
future of gaming is dependent on
compact agreement with State –
political process
sovereign wealth fund – how
much is enough?
DIVERSIFICATION
Community’s businesses are
generally reservation specific
and highly exposed to real
estate economics
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OPERATING BUDGET
Cost of public safety
and infrastructure
needs are likely to
increase faster than
revenues.
Tribal government
provides a higher
level of service than
typical municipalities.
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT Gaming exclusivity to tribes in
Arizona is critical to the Community
to maintain services because the
only other material sources of
funding are federal grants and
state education grants.
Financial success dependent upon
progressive Council members
supporting economic development
and fiscally conservative
expenditures.
5 of 9 Council seats up for election
EARNING A MARKET RETURN
difficult to benchmark performance
providing market incentives for
management
shareholders represented by elected officials
non-financial considerations, eg,
employment opportunities
ATTRACTING & RETAINING FINANCIAL
PROFESSIONALS
government job without the
perks of public companies
employees have to want to be
here not just for the financial
rewards
Questions / Comments
THANK YOU FOR
JOINING US TODAY
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