“To make amends for someone for the loss or harm or suffer or compensate,” Ben said before telling supervisors the history of the tribe and their successes. “While Neshoba County is aware that the taxes are small for 122.29 acres of land that is being considered for trust status, the previous and continued placement of land into trust for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians continues to erode the tax base of Neshoba County with no recompense available for thousands of acres that have been placed into trust in smaller amounts like these portions,” the county’s response said.Ĭhief Ben appeared at the meeting with a delegation of Tribal Council members to take issue with that assessment by the county and pointed out the definition of recompense and what the Tribe contributes to the local economy.
The Tribe applied to enter the 122.29 acres that generate less than $800 a year in taxes into trust, but the county submitted a formal comment to the BIA in August objecting to the action. Indigenous tribes can petition the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to have land put into trust status and exempt from county taxation.
The concern was over 122.29 acres of land the Tribe wants to put into trust. The Board of Supervisors apologized to Choctaw Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben on Monday over comments they made about taking land off the tax rolls and putting it into trust.
