S. 277 would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take into trust approximately 720 acres of land in San Diego County, California, owned by the Pala Band of Mission Indians. Under the bill, DOI would hold title to that land for the benefit of the tribe. The legislation also would prohibit certain types of gaming on those lands. Using information from DOI, CBO estimates that the administrative costs to implement S. 277 would not be significant.
S. 277 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The bill would prohibit state and local governments from taxing land taken into trust for the Pala Band of Mission Indians. Information from San Diego County about taxes and other receipts associated with the land indicates that those forgone revenues would total less than $13,000 annually, well below the annual intergovernmental threshold established in UMRA ($99 million in 2023, adjusted annually for inflation).
