Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation v. Thurston County Board of Equalization

OPINION

IKUTA, Circuit Judge:

At issue in this case is whether state and local governments have the power to tax permanent improvements built on non-reservation land owned by the United States and held in trust for an Indian tribe. .Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 465, and Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U.S. 145, 93 S.Ct. 1267, 36 L.Ed.2d 114 (1973), we hold that they do not.

I

The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation is a federally recognized Indian tribe in Southwest Washington. 1 In 2002, the Tribe purchased approximately forty-three acres of land known as the “Grand Mound Property,”…