ACSA Takes Reins from Mohawk Anti-Tax Steering Committee Monies

By Kaniehtonkie

On Monday, August 20, members of the Mohawk Anti-Tax Steering Committee (MATSC) met with the president of the Akwesasne Convenience Store Association (ACSA) in the ASCA president’s office and according to those present, the ASCA president threw five – one-dollar bills at members of the MATSC allegedly saying; “Here, this is what you deserve.”

A long standing and sometimes contentious relationship between the MATSC, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and the ACSA has ended with bitterness on all sides.

The Anti-Tax Steering Committee was formed in 1988 on the premise to support ironworkers and others who were wrongfully taxed on the basis of being ‘tax-exempt’ Native American employees.

The Akwesasne Convenience Store Association (ACSA) – formerly called the Akwesasne Petroleum Co-op was created in 2003. They changed their name in 2010.

The Mohawk Anti-Tax Steering Committee (MATSC) had 2.7 million dollars held in a restricted account by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe for over fifteen years.

In 2003 the SRMT changed their system from a contribution to a formal tax collection system by a series of resolutions. In 2018, those resolutions were amended to increase the collection of taxes and dissolve the relationship between the MATSC, the ASCA and the Tribe itself.

According to members of MATSC, the Tribe does not have the authority to collect taxes in Akwesasne and up to the date of dissolving the relationship between the two, the SRMT once held $2.7 million dollars in a restricted account. The SRMT had signed off in July and made a partial release of the money, but not to MATSC but directly into the hands of ASCA.

Now, according to members of the MATSC, “the money is all but gone”.

One member stated, “Our (MATSC) original mission is still intact, we need to protect the people of Akwesasne from being taxed. We need to broaden our scope, to bring on new members young and old. The ACSA has approximately sixty-one (61) members, but when was the last time they held an election?”

On July 11, 2018, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, in a resolution stated, “WHEREAS, over the years the Tribe has authorized the collection of fuel and tobacco fees with the cooperation and assistance of Saint Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation business associations, currently through the Akwesasne Convenience Store Association whose members consists of Reservation fuel stations; and

WHEREAS, a fuel fee of $0.04 per gallon fuel fees has been collected and allocated as follows: (1) $0.01 per gallon to the Tribe under restricted fund use by the Tribe and a Reservation tax-advocacy association – the Mohawk Anti-Tax Steering Committee for defending sovereign rights involving state and federal taxation (“restricted Tax Fund”); (2) $0.01 per gallon to the Tribe for general Tribal General Fund (TGF) purposes; (3). $0.01 to the Akwesasne Convenience Store Association to be allocated to Community uses (one-half to the Tribal Court and one-half to the Hogansburg-Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department) and $0.01 to the Akwesasne Convenience Store Association for its general purposes.”

The Resolution goes on to say, the Tribe remains rightful in collecting $0.04 per gallon with $0.02 being allocated to the SRMT TGF and $0.02, being split between the ASCA and the HAVFD. As well, the resolution states it is no longer responsible for allocating Fuel Fees to a restricted fund for the ACSA/MATSC. $.0.25 per carton will continue to be authorized and collected and will be seen as a contribution by the ASCA as a contribution to the Elder’s Benefit Fund

According to the Tribal resolution, the balance of restricted funds from tobacco and petroleum fees collected from May 2017 to January 2018 were distributed to ASCA/MATSC.

However, the funds collected for the month of June were ‘distributed to all the Tribe”.

In August, the SRMT amended the Tobacco Ordinance to set the Tobacco Stamp Fees at $3.00 per carton to the SRMT and $0.75 to ACSA, National Brands $5.00 to the SRMT and $0.75 to ACSA, with a statement of not increasing carton fees for three (3) years, until at least August 1, 2021.

After fifteen years of work securing and protecting over two million dollars of collected funds from members of the MATSC, the funds were turned over to the ACSA through a series of Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council Resolutions dating from 2010 to August 2018.By August 15 the Tribe had ended their formal relationship with MATSC.