Wisconsin cannot tax Ojibwe lands that have passed through non-tribal ownership, appeals court rules
The state of Wisconsin cannot tax Ojibwe lands that have returned to tribal ownership after a period of non-tribal possession, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling in the long-running tax immunity case, which was brought against the state and several towns in 2018 by four Ojibwe tribes with reservations in northern Wisconsin.
The tribes — the Bad River, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau and Red Cliff bands of Lake Superior Chippewa — sued after some of their members were told they owed property taxes on lands they owned that had passed through non-Native hands at some point.
Under an 1854 treaty that promised the Ojibwe a permanent home, tribes and tribal members are immune from taxes on land within their reservations. But the state argued tribal lands forever lose that tax immunity when sold to non-Natives, even if those lands later come back under tribal ownership.
1854 treaty protects tribal owners, appeals court says
In a ruling issued Monday, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit disagreed with the state, and found that Congress never authorized the state to tax Ojibwe lands. The panel found that the 1854 treaty protects tribal owners of reservation land from taxation.
The court drew parallels between the tribes' situation and that of religious organizations also exempt from property taxes. Judge Michael Y. Scudder, Jr. wrote that if a church sells its property to a secular bookstore, that land becomes taxable. But if the church buys the space back and uses it for religious purposes, it becomes tax exempt again.
A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Office of the Attorney General said the state is reviewing the court's decision and did not say whether the state would try to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Taxation threat was a 'huge threat'
Mike Wiggins Jr., chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, praised the appellate court's decision as upholding the tribes' treaty rights.
"It's an incredible decision that affirms what we knew all along in terms of our claim of ownership and right to home over our lands and waters here in Bad River," he said. "This is a historic day for Bad River."
Wiggins estimated at least 50 citizens of Bad River have land that would have been subject to property taxes had the court ruled differently. The tribe has also spent more than $3 million reacquiring land on the Bad River reservation since 2009, Wiggins said.
"We've been busy nation building, and that taxation threat as it manifested was a huge threat to our tribal sovereignty and our future land base," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Sarah Volpenhein is a reporter who focuses on news of value to underserved communities. You can support such work through the our newsroom's Report for America effort. More information can be found at JSOnline.com/RFA. Email her at svolpenhei@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin can't tax tribal lands once owned by non-Natives, court says
