Two dozen legislators are sponsoring a bill in the Vermont House that would exempt properties owned by the four state-recognized Abenaki tribes from property taxes.
Abenaki chiefs said this policy would have little financial impact on the state, but would bring their tribes major financial relief and allow them to further invest in tribal services.
“The bill is a modest and sort of small, but important, step forward to address some of the historical harm around taxing our Indigenous communities on land that was taken from them,” said Rep. Katherine Sims, D-Craftsbury, who’s sponsoring the legislation.
H.556 would apply both to real and personal property owned by a tribe or an associated nonprofit, provided the property is used for tribal purposes and isn’t leased or rented for profit. The property would be exempt from both municipal property tax and the statewide education property tax.
If passed, the legislation would take effect July 1.
Currently, H.556 would cover four parcels in Vermont totaling about 150 acres, on which Abenaki tribes and nonprofits pay just under $11,300 total in property taxes.
The parcels include the Nulhegan Abenaki tribal forest in Barton; Wantastegok Natami, which is Elnu Abenaki land in Brattleboro; the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi’s tribal building in Swanton; and Brunswick Springs, which is sacred Missisquoi land.
Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation, helped draft the bill. He said it would be important progress in the wake of legislators’ formal apology last fall for Vermont’s eugenics movement that in part targeted Indigenous people.
H.556 also would build on a 2020 law allowing members of state-recognized Native American tribes to receive free hunting and fishing licenses, he said.
“This is just the next step,” Stevens said, “in the progression of making sure to continue to uplift our people.”
The Nulhegan chief said Abenaki tribes do not have consistent sources of revenue. They rely on grants and donations to operate, which can be unpredictable.
The bill would allow more of that funding to go toward services and programs that directly benefit tribal members, Stevens said, addressing issues such as food insecurity and disparities in access to health care, and helping to preserve Abenaki culture.
Tax relief also would allow tribes to acquire or be gifted additional lands without worrying about whether they could afford to pay the taxes on them, he said.
Missisquoi Chief Richard Menard said tax relief would allow his tribe members to make repairs and buy new maintenance equipment for their tribal building. The building needs multiple new doors, he said, and repairs to several support posts.
The Missisquoi pay about $6,000 a year in taxes on the building, Menard said. It houses the tribe’s food shelf, which served 4,000 people from northwest Vermont and upstate New York last year, according to tribal leaders.
“We let certain things slide because of a lack of funding,” he said. “It’s a matter of priority. You’ve got to pay your light bill. You’ve got to pay your heat bill.”
The new legislation “would be a big benefit,” Menard said.
