8.10.030 Purpose and intent.
The Wiyot Tribe is a federally recognized Indian Tribe. The Constitution of the Tribe affirms the sovereign duties to preserve Wiyot Tribal customs, recognize rights and privileges as members, exercise privileges and powers of self-government, and improve the economic conditions for the Wiyot lands and citizens. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recognizes that benefits provided by a Tribal government to its members under a social benefit program for the promotion of the general welfare are excludable from the gross income of Tribal members who receive such benefits. With this chapter, the Council exercises its sovereign power to provide member assistance consistent with the IRS General Welfare Doctrine.
The purposes of this chapter are to:
A. Memorialize the Tribe’s policy to determine what services and programs are needed to promote public health, safety, and other basic need services;
B. Establish a procedure for the Council to assess the general welfare needs of the Tribe and distribute basic need services including, but not limited to, utility services, infrastructure, housing, financial assistance, public sanitation services, elder and disabled programs, cultural and religious programs, public education, and all other such functions that support the long-term historical and cultural general welfare of the Tribe; and
C. Adjust the Tribe’s tax treatment of these sovereign benefits accordingly, ensuring compliance with the General Welfare Doctrine and IRS Code Section 139E. [Ord. 16-20 § 3, approved 6/8/20.]