TULALIP — The Tulalip Tribes will not pay tribal members a holiday bonus this year after all.
Tribal members were expecting a $1,000 bonus the membership voted on in October, but the tribe doesn’t have the money, Chairman Herman Williams Jr. said this week.
Williams previously said the board expected to make the payment, but he now said he misspoke. He was referring to a $500 quarterly per capita payment the board hopes to make in February, he said.
Tribal members were angered by the conflicting information. As a result, the board sent a letter to tribal members stating that no extra money is available. All seven board members signed the letter.
"The board is working hard trying to make sure that the next quarterly installment in February will be made," Williams said. "We don’t know right now what we’re going to be able to do for 2004.
"People have to keep in mind that per capita is net revenue left over at the end of the year. We haven’t been following the (tribal) constitution. We’ve been budgeting for those instead of waiting until the end of the year to see if there’s enough money there."
Under the tribe’s constitution, per capita payments may be made only when other tribal bills and obligations have been paid, Williams said.
This year, the board paid $2,000 per capita in quarterly payments of $500 each, Williams said.
Meanwhile, a comment in a story on this same topic in last Saturday’s Herald was attributed to the wrong person.
Williams made the comment: "I believe our membership needs to make a decision whether we’re going to be a program tribe or a per capita tribe. I think we have more programs for our members than all the other tribes combined."
Williams was explaining that he believed the Tulalips provide more programs for tribal members than other tribes that pay members more from casino profits.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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