The Puyallup Tribal membership will soon be asked to decide how to spend a remaining $3.6 million balance in the expendable trust fund, created through the Land Claim Settlement Agreement of 1988.
During the settlement, the Tribe set up two trust funds enacted by Congress: a permanent fund of $22 million, which would create interest to be used for Tribal services, and an expendable fund, which would pay $20,000 to each person who was a tribal member at the time of ratification once they reached the age of 21.
Last August, the last tribal member who was enrolled at the time of the agreement turned 21, and received the final payment of the expendable fund.
Now, the membership must vote on what to do with the remaining balance.
In the summer of 2009, 65 tribal members responded to a survey in the Puyallup Tribal News. They were asked whether or not the remaining balance should be distributed to the membership, reinvested into the permanent trust, or both.
Of the survey respondents, 42 out of 65 elected for the payout, which would be approximately $800 for each member (depending on the enrollment count at the time of payment, and any required fees for payment). Nine members opted for the 50-50 option, that would invest $1.8 million in the permanent fund (accruing approximately $90,000 a year in interest) and give approximately $400 to each member (depending on enrollment count and fees). Eight people opted for a full reinvestment into the permanent trust, which would create an estimated extra $180,000 each year in the future for social services.
Services such as school clothes stipends, elder assistance payments, funeral services, newborn services, higher education, ECEAP, domestic violence support services, family preservation and a basket-weaving workshop are examples of what the Trust Board has funded in the past few years through the permanent trust fund.
While the survey responses gave an indication of which direction the membership may desire to go, it represents only a very small fraction of the membership.
The Trust Board has recommended that Puyallup Tribal Council put these same options up for a vote in the next general council election in June 2010, garnering a larger response from the tribal population. In the last council election, more than 800 members participated. The response from voters through the election will determine what is to be done with the remaining balance.
As the amount of interest in the permanent trust fund fluxuates from year to year depending on market conditions, the amount available to the Tribe for use in social services changes slightly. This year, the Trust Board was able to spend $1.1 million on social services to the members.
Tough economic times may be the reason for such an overwhelming support of a full-payout to the membership from the survey results.
“The best long-term impact would be to re-invest the money, but times are hard and people need to pay the bills,” Trust Board Chair Lloyd “Sonny” Reynon said.
Whether or not the membership does choose to re-invest the money into the permanent trust fund, it will not stop social services provided by the Trust Board.
“The Trust Board is still going to exist, and social services will still be provided,” affirmed Kirby Jock, Trust Board administrator. However if the membership chose to re-invest the remaining settlement funds, more funds would be available for social services in future years. “When I think about the choice between re-investing the funds and a one-time payout” Kirby Jock said, “I picture it kind of like deciding whether to buy bottled water for everyone in the Tribe – for one year, or to buy land that has a freshwater spring that can provide water for the Tribe every summer.”
