Ketchikan Gateway Borough v. Ketchikan Indian Corp.

OPINION

MATTHEWS, Justice.

The superior court applied the implied federal preemption doctrine to exempt from borough taxes all space in a building that contains a tribally operated clinic that is subject to detailed oversight by the Indian Health Service. The narrow question presented here is whether space in the building that is not committed to use by the clinic should be exempt. We answer in the negative because such space is not necessarily part of a pervasively and comprehensively regulated federal program and the borough's interest in taxing the property is not inconsequential.

I. FACTS…