Tribal tax code generating needed revenue...
June 4, 2006

CRIT juvenile justice efforts receive $1.6 million boost in first year alone.

The CRIT tax code enacted a year ago is already generating critical revenue to meet Tribal needs and improve the Tribal infrastructure.

The tax code has generated more than $1.6 million in the past year, money which is currently earmarked for Tribal juvenile justice programs.

The funds help meet a critical Tribal need, because juvenile justice programs have traditionally been underfunded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and CRIT has been working to build a new juvenile justice facility.

Juvenile justice has long been a problem for CRIT, and even to this day, juvenile offenders from the CRIT reservation are taken all the way to Globe for incarceration.

In the future, the revenue generated by the tax code will continue to be used for youth-related programs and services.

“This revenue is important to CRIT in helping meet the needs of our people and create better futures for our young people,” said Tribal Chairman Daniel Eddy, Jr.

“A large portion of the funds generated by the tax code comes from people from outside our community, so the tax code brings in a new revenue source that would otherwise be missed.”

More than 500 businesses in the Parker area are currently in compliance with the CRIT tax code, which is similar to the tax codes implemented by tribes and municipalities across Arizona and around the country.

The first-year revenue will cover CRIT’s portion of the costs of constructing a new juvenile justice facility on the CRIT reservation. CRIT has also received an Indian Community Development Block Grant from the federal Department of Housing & Urban Development to finance construction of the facility.

CRIT is preparing to put out a Request for Proposal for the construction of the new juvenile facility, with the goal of having it completed as soon as possible so that juvenile offenders on the CRIT reservation do not have to be sent away.

In the future, the Tribal Council hopes to earmark funds from the tax code for construction of a children’s shelter on the CRIT reservation, as well as other youth-related programs and facilities. CRIT has already submitted a 2006 Indian Community Development Block Grant for a shelter.