A Native American resort is not just another meeting venue. Tribal holdings are independent, sovereign nations.
The U.S. Constitution puts Indian Tribes on a similar footing as foreign nations and the individual states. Sovereignty can affect all of the legalities governing gaming, taxation, land use and other activities that can shape meetings and events held in Native American properties.
Carlos Murillo, director of sales at the Morongo Casino Resort in Palm Springs, says the Morongo Band of Mission Indians allows him significant flexibility to negotiate contract terms. But not when it comes to sovereignty.
Standard contract terms settling disputes in the planner’s or event sponsor’s home jurisdiction are out. Any legal disputes are settled in Riverside County, California, the Morongo’s home jurisdiction.
The Tulalip Tribes in Washington state take a different tack. Their contracts stipulate adjudication in tribal courts, says Kenneth Kettler, president and chief operating officer of the Tulalip Resort Casino, north of Seattle. The proliferation of tribal resorts has made most planners fairly comfortable with sovereignty, he says.
But comfortable or not, choice of legal venue is a sovereignty issue. And sovereignty is not negotiable.
Sovereignty can also affect taxation. Native American operations on tribal lands may be exempt from sales taxes, transient occupancy taxes and other state or local levies noted a tribal resort sales executive. But planners may—or may not—see the potential savings.
Some tribes pass their tax exemption along by charging tax-free rates. That $150 room is billed at $150, not $150 plus sales and bed tax. Some tribes pay local taxes and other tribes collect your “tax” money as additional profit. It pays to ask before signing on the dotted line.
Some resorts collect local tax equivalents and plow the funds back into tribal tourism developments. Washington has no state tourism office, so the Tulalip Tribes charge 2 percent occupancy tax to support tourism promotion, plus 8.65 percent state sales tax.
“Our tax structure gives us a 2-plus percent tax advantage over Seattle,” Kettler says. “On a group spend, 2 percent adds up in a hurry. And we offer free parking; that’s $36 per attendee per night savings over city venues.”
