March 21, 1994
Dear Colville member:
It is with pleasure and pride that we, your Business Council, present to you for your consideration the settlement proposal that has been negotiated in the Grand Coulee Claims Case (181-D). It is the unanimous recommendation of the Business Council that you approve the settlement after you have had an opportunity to consider it.
This letter provides an explanation of the settlement, its value to the tribes and tribal members, and what needs to be done now. We have planned several district and regional meetings to answer any questions you may have. We have also set a date for a General Membership Meeting where the members will have an opportunity to vote on the settlement. We want to move as fast as possible, while still giving each member enough time to consider the settlement, in order to get Congressional approval as soon as possible. No payments can be received until Congress approves the settlement. The settlement cannot be formally presented to Congress until after the membership has considered it.
I. The settlement
The settlement is in two parts. The first provides compensation for the past use of tribal lands in the production of electric power at Grand Coulee Dam. The second, and by far the most important part, is an agreement and guarantee that the tribes will receive an annual payment in every year in the future that Grand Coulee Dam produces power. Thus, your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will also benefit from this settlement.
A. Lump sum for past use.
The United States will pay to the tribes $53,000,000 for its past use of tribal lands to produce electricity at Grand Coulee Dam. This amount will be paid after the full settlement is approved by Congress. It will be paid under a distribution plan approved by the Secretary of Interior, and submitted to Congress.
There will be a separate General Membership Meeting to consider exactly how the lump sum payment should be distributed. Your vote on April 16, 1994, at the General Membership Meeting is only on the basic settlement that includes the lump sum and annual payments. There will be another General Membership Meeting to consider a final distribution plan for the lump sum. However, the Business Council thinks that the membership should strongly consider the distribution of the lump sum as a per capita payment to the membership.
Therefore, we recommend that 100% of the lump sum payment be distributed to the members in a per capita payment. Because of the time members have waited and the burden placed on our elders, we feel that and any change in the price of power. If the actual electric power .. produced in any year is greater than average power production, or the price of electric power has gone up, the Tribes will receive the benefit of those increases. Over the years the trend has been for power prices to increase substantially.
2. Second, to make sure that the Tribes gets the benefit of any change in inflation as measured by the consumer price index, the settlement sets upper and lower limits on the payment. These limits make sure that the annual payment grows if inflation grows.
3. Third, the initial payment is guaranteed. It is possible that the price of electric power could fall or that in low water years the output of Grand Coulee will be low. Under these circumstances the annual payment could be reduced. Under the settlement, however, if the price of power or actual electric power production were to cause the annual payment to fall below $15.25 million the Tribes
can choose to require BPA to pay the $15.25 million. This amount is thus guaranteed. Any shortfall is simply taken out of future payments when the amount of those payments is greater than $15.25 million.
Thus, there will be a guaranteed annual payment each year that will likely go up substantially as inflation and the price of power goes up. At the same time the settlement contains protections to guarantee the $15.25 some immediate benefit should be given to members. If the membership. agrees, the Secretary of the Interior will need to approve the per capita payment. Congress then has 60 days to consider the per capita payment plan as modified. If Congress does not disapprove, it will go into effect.
A sheet showing how the per capita payment would be computed is attached. While you do not have to decide now on your preference for the distribution of the lump sum, we wanted to give you our idea to think about.
A. Annual Payments:
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has agreed to pay to the Tribes at least $15,250,000 ($15.25 million) each year Grand Coulee Dam produces power. The first payment of $15.25 million will be made March 1, 1996, for electric power generated at Grand Coulee Dam in 1995. Additional payments will be made March 1 in each year thereafter and should increase over time with the cost of electricity and with inflation. The delay (until 1996) is caused by the fact that the settlement has to be approved by Congress.
The actual annual payment in every year after 1996 will be computed on the basis of actual power production at Grand Coulee in any year multiplied by a base price. The base price is adjusted each year by an index that takes into account the change in the price of power and inflation. Because the annual fee may fluctuate, the settlement builds in three protections to preserve the payment.
1. First, the yearly payment will take into account any change in the amount of electric power actually generated at Grand Coulee Dam annual payment if the price of power or electric power output were to fall.
Because the annual payment will be received for as long as Grand Coulee is generating power, how the annual payment is to be used each year is left to the Tribes to determine in the same manner that it decides how to use other funds it receives on a yearly basis.
II. THE VALUE OF THE SETTLEMENT
The value to the Tribes and its members of this settlement is substantial. First, it will provide an immediate payment to each member of $ 5937.00 This will help insure that our elders receive immediate benefit from the settlement. They have suffered the most.
Second, the Tribes will receive a multi-million dollar payment each year for as long as Grand Coulee produces electric power. The initial annual payment of $15.25 million will likely increase over time as both the price of power and inflation increase. The settlement insures that the Tribes will receive an annual payment like the payment received by the Warm Springs and Flathead tribes, which have dams on their reservations. The annual payment to be received by the Tribes under the settlement will be larger than the annual payment currently received by either the Warm Springs or Flathead tribe.
This annual payment to the Tribes will be available in the future to benefit Tribal child ren not yet born. The annual payment could be used to: provide per capita payments; purchase land, fund higher education for Tribal youth; provide enhanced health protection; enhance fish and wildlife to be used by members; provide for housing; cultural preservation endeavors.
Because the annual payment will come each year, the Tribes will be able to use it to meet new and unexpected needs and issues. The only strings attached to the use of the annual paymen ts are the strings we, as a tribe, put on it.
III. HOW THIS SETTLEMENT COMPARES WITH OTHER SEITLEMENTS
The 181-D settlement is the largest settlement or judgment received by any tribe in any case brought under the Indian Claims Commission Act.
Over 600 claims were filed by tribes in the United States under the Indian Claims Commission Act. Some 40% of those claims were dismissed. In those cases the tribes received nothing. The largest settlement previously approved under the Indian Claims Commission Act where a tribe elected not to go to court was approximately $35 million; smaller than just the lump sum payment in the 181-D settlement. The largest court ordered judgment ever awarded after trial under the Indian Claims Commission Act was to the Sioux Nation for the taking of all the Black Hills. That judgment was for $105 million, but was only a one-time payment that did not continue into the future as do the 181-D annual payments. In short, the Colville 181-D settlement is larger than anything received by any tribe under the Indian Claims Commission Act.
IV. WHY SETTLE
The 181-D Claim is part of a lawsuit filed under the ICCA. In this case the Tribes has two choices: go to court and see what a judge decides; or settle. The Business Council believes settlement is by far the best course for several reasons.
First, settlement eliminates the risks associated with going to court.
While we believe that the Tribes' case is strong, no one can predict with certainty what will happen in court.
Second, by settling, the Tribes can control the terms of the settlement, providing, for example, protections for our children.
Finally, and most important, only by settling is it possible to secure the annual payment that the Tribes was promised and that it is entitled to receive. A court could only provide a single, one-time payment. This does not protect the unborn Tribal member. It does not insure that funds are available to meet future needs. Settlement allows the Tribes to accomplish this very important goal of guaranteeing an annual payment.
In short, settlement protects against the uncertain ties of going to court, allows the Tribes to control the terms of a settlement and provides the annual payment to protect our children and meet future Tribal needs. At the same time, it will give a substantial current payment to the members.
VI. CONCLUSION
We hope you are as pleased with the settlement as we are. The Business Council believes that it strikes a good balance between meeting current needs and protecting our children. Please read the enclosed materials and plan on attending one of the informational meetings and the General Membership Meeting.
Sincerely, Colville Business Council
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