Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2024)

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256

Nixon, Nevada 89424

Telephone: (775) 574-1000

Fax (775) 574-1054

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

January 31, 2024, Special Budget

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Vice Chairman

Harriet Brady, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember

Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember Edward Ely III, Councilmember

Della John, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

embers Absent: James J. Phoenix, Tribal Chairman and Councilmembers Nathan Dunn and Genevieve

John

Note: This meeting was in-person only.

CALL TO ORDER

Vice Chairman Wadsworth called the January 31, 2024, Special Budget Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid

Lake Paiute Tribal Council to order at 4:07 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Roll call was taken by Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary. Tribal Chairman Phoenix and

Councilmembers Dunn and Genevieve John were absent. All other Councilmembers were present at roll call

and a quorum was established for this meeting.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Vice Chairman Wadsworth read the agenda with no changes noted.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the agenda for January 31, 2024, Councilmember Guerrero

seconded the motion. Votes were five (5) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED Note: there were only 5 Councilmembers voted, no documentation on the missing vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Request for Approval 2024 Tribal Budget. John McCauley, Comptroller

Mr. McCauley provided the 2023 budget versus the 2024 proposed Tribal budgets to Council which showed

the over/under and 2023 unspent amounts.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

January 31, 2024, Special Budget minutes

Fund Code 062 Tribal Attorney Fees. It was noted there was $50, 207.73 unspent. Vice Chairman

Wadsworth noted they just approved the contracts for Kemp Jones LLP and Stetson Engineers LLP and the

amounts have stayed the same.

Fund Code 063, Cultural Program. Councilmember Della John stated they did not spend $86,605.16 but

they are asking for $20,000 more? Mr. McCauley said the updated amount is now $79,000 unspent.

Councilmember Della John asked if they received ARPA funding? Councilmember Cortez said they did, fund

code 189-1, Language Preservation, for $51,860. The increase is for food, salary, and benefits and that was

in case they did not secure a grant and they would be covered. They are looking for grants to obtain after

the current one ends, and their ARPA funding ends in June.

Fund Code 067, Tribal Land Office. Unspent at $23,908.70 and asking for an increase of $5,123. No

further questions.

Councilmember Ely asked if once the budget is approved, all the unspent for 2023 will go away until next

year when they revisit it as unspent, correct? Mr. McCauley said that is to show the unspent amount for

2023 and what they are asking for more in 2024.

Councilmember Guerrero said with the unspent, if they are not using ARPA or any other funding that would

zero them out. If they are looking at a proposed budget for 2025, they will not have the unspent funds

available for the income going forward. The incoming revenue for 2023 was $12,519,721.11 and they

would be looking for another $3 million in projected revenue in 2025.

Mr. McCauley said there may be more because there are a couple of programs that are not included because

they do have ARPA funding.

Fund Code 072 Tribal Council/General Fund and 072A Tribal Council Indirect. There was an increase

in the donation and elder emergency request line items.

Fund Code 080 Tribal Chairman and 080A Tribal Chairman Indirect. Salaries are split 50/50 between

tribal funds and indirect.

Benjamin John asked about 072A and 080A budgets, why there was indirect on the Indirect funds? This

was an error in the formula, there is no indirect funding for the Indirect Funds. This will need to be

corrected and will change the amount, the indirect funding will go away.

Fund Code 081 Tribal Administrator’s Office (Executive Office) Indirect. There were no changes in the

budget.

Fund Code 082 Contracts and Grants Department Indirect. No changes to the budget.

Fund Code 083 Finance Indirect. Councilmember Davis asked if the corrections were made because this

fund was tabled because there were changes or update needed. Mr. McCauley said he was using his office as

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an example, they have $200,000 unspent and are asking for $1 million, he could cut something out if the

Council wants him to, he could. They are analyzing their R&Es to see where they are short and may be able

to find savings there.

Fund Code 084 Human Resources Indirect. They are currently at $78,000 unspent with majority being

salary because they have been shorthanded. They only had a slight increase of $9,400.

Fund Code 084-1 Background Investigator Indirect. There is only one person, and they have $64,000

unspent. Councilmember Brady asked why they could not spend $70,000 or $64,000? Councilmember Ely

said maybe because they didn’t do many backgrounds checks. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they have

funds left in salaries, fringe and miscellaneous which he is not sure what miscellaneous is for but in this

budget, she did include an administrator. Mr. John said this is indirect and it is one where they should be

spending all indirect. She wants to hire an assistant. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said according to the R&E it

did not look like they spent much on costs associated with background functions. Mr. John said that is

because she must hire a third-party adjudicator and they did not have to do as much. Vice Chairman

Wadsworth said it makes sense because they have not had new hires this year.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said Mr. John is correct, the departments that are indirect need to spend out as

close to 100% as possible. For Council information, they bill for services they use for indirect and if they are

not using it and they are not billing for it, they are leaving money on the table. Mr. John said when you

submit the cost proposal, they look at what did you ask for? How much do you spend? And if they ask for

more, and they spend less than what they are given, their first indirect cost rate back might be lower, so

they get less indirect for the programs that run off indirect which is the reason it is important to spend

100%.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it is great if they have a lower IDC for the grant programs, however, it

means that two of the main administrative functions get depleted because they are getting less money. It is

a delicate balance.

Councilmember Davis said with indirect it is one of the reasons they need to have the quarterly meetings to

ensure the indirect is getting spent.

Fund Code 085 Maintenance Indirect. The budget is currently $83,000 unspent. They are not fully

staffed. Mr. John explained initially they budgeted for maintenance #1, #2 and# 3, then the manager was

having trouble moving employees up to #2 and #3 but they did not get any applicants to do #1 but prior to

that nobody was qualifying for the #3 position. A while back they were fully staffed but they have not

maintained it. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said looking at the budget, it looks ok except for the salaries but

for the one person they are missing.

Fund Code 086 Lake Maintenance. There is a balance of $101, 260.59 unspent of tribal funds. Ms. Davis

said the budget is mostly for salaries because they are not fully staffed, she currently has one employee and

an on-call. Councilmember Cortez asked if they would be able to amend to add another vehicle because he

sees a lot of items in the budget for maintenance. Councilmember Ely asked if she gets seasonal workers.

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Ms. Davis said she does include community service workers. One of the things they put in the budget for

this year was increasing the fireworks revenue because they get a portion of the Enterprise fireworks fees,

this year they will not get it as they pay it, but it will be part of the budget. They used to get it quarterly and

would have to make a modification to their budget when they received it. It used to be about $50,000 but it

is about $90,000 and has been increasing in the last couple of years. So, when it comes in, the Tribe just

puts it back into the budget.

Councilmember Brady asked about Burning Man fees.

Ms. Davis said it is separate, they get it because of the contract the Tribe has with Burning Man.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked about the Burning Man fees, does it go up every year?

Mr. John said it increases by 3%. When Burning Man comes back this year, if the Council wants to be a part

of the negotiations, they can be a part of it.

Fund Code 086-1 Beach Monitors. Councilmember Ely asked if the Beach Monitors were a part of the

Rangers, he said there was a discussion where all or part of the fishing permits, boat charters and permits

were going to the Rangers? Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it was just the charter fees and they already

discussed it and said they were going to stop that. Councilmember Ely said he wanted to discuss it and not

have to bring it up again when they get to the Ranger budget. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it looks like it

is in the Ranger budget. The Beach Monitors and the Rangers are separate budgets. It seems the increase

they are asking for is for salaries because they are asking for an increase of $22,000. Mr. McCauley said the

increase for the Beach Monitors is for salaries for four monitors. Their budget is $107,000 unspent.

Chris Parsons, Chief of Police, said the savings were because they were not fully staffed the full year, but

they are now.

Councilmember Ely asked again if the Beach Monitors and the Rangers were two separate budgets and if it

changed that the charter permits, or fishing permits went to the Rangers.

Chief Parsons said yes, they are two separate budgets.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it is going to change this year to where they would not get it automatically.

Chief Parson said when he submitted for the Rangers it would have accounted for getting the charter fees

so when the charter fees come in, Council does not have to give it to the Rangers it can go into the General

Fund. There is always the issue of trying to mod that amount of funding into an existing budget approval

and it skews the numbers. They normally get this amount of funds, so if they initially requested it in the

budget, so when the funding does come in, depending upon the amount, it just goes into the General Fund

and does not go to the Rangers anymore.

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Fund Code 087 Government Services. Mr. McCauley said Government Services overspent $140,000 and it

was due to insurance. Councilmember Della John asked if the EMTs and Police carry their own insurance or

if itis under the Tribe. Sherry Ely Mendes, Programs Officer, said the insurance increased because they

added cyber protection and there were a couple other items, they did not have coverage on, so they were

added. She is unsure if they pay separate liability for the EMT or the Police. Chief Parsons said he does not

pay for insurance out of any of their line items. Ms. Mendes said it is the Tribe’s liability, she is hopeful that

it would cover any incidence. She does know it covers vehicle insurance due to auto accidents and is sure it

covers its employees of the Tribe.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked if liability is covered in any of the GSA leases. Chief Parsons said if itis a

lease, the vehicle is not theirs, it is registered by the federal government just like the clinic and school

vehicles. They do not cover the insurance; it is only the tribal owned vehicles that they must carry comp

and collision for the Police Department vehicles. Vice Chairman Wadsworth confirmed the insurance is

being paid out of 087A indirect.

Fund Code 088-1 Food Distribution Tribal. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said Ms. Maipi explained at the

last meeting the increase was to purchase a new freezer.

Fund Code 089 Numaga Tribal Funded. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said there is no change, but they are

getting outside assistance which is great to see and double what they had 10 years ago and has increased

by $120,000 since then. It was confirmed their gift cards come out of Fund Code 087 Christmas line item.

Fund Code 096 Gaming Commission. Mr. John said previously 096 wasn’t getting a budget for the

commission but at one point the Council wanted them to work on what they have in place now, if the Lodge

was ever to be operational again and that was why they were advised to submit a budget to cover because

they didn’t have any funding before. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it shows they did not submit a budget.

Mr. McCauley said he recently received the amount of $23,148 direct and indirect $3,445, for a total of

$26,593. The majority for stipends at $11,250, contracts $6,000, legal $2,000, supplies & materials $1,398,

travel $2,000 and training $500. Vice Chairman Wadsworth stated they have $250 stipends for five

members and they only meeting nine times a year.

Councilmember Ely restated what Mr. John stated that it is there if they convey the Lodge then the

committee can be put back into place to oversee and govern if the machines are put back into operation.

Mr. John said the Lodge was trying to get licensed but there was no commission to meet or whether they

could even look at it at the time. The commission was not meeting because they did not have any funds, so

it was decided they needed to put in for a budget. There was more to the story about Crosby and the

machines, but he does not remember exactly. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said even though it’s tribally

owned and conveyed, the Tribe does need to have the Gaming Commission, it is necessary, and they cannot

operate without a commission.

Fund Code 101 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they are

requesting the same amount. They had $13,253.30 unspent which may be because they did not fill all their

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positions. Councilmember Della John said the coach at the high school had practice in the middle of the day

and kids could not work because of practice.

Councilmember Davis said when the Council first developed the program, one of the requirements for the

SYEP was they had to be an enrolled Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal member. Last year that requirement was

not followed, and the supervisor even said it was not a requirement. She is not sure when that stopped but

would like to see it put back as a requirement because there were kids that were not enrolled members,

and they had kids who were members who did not get hired.

Councilmember Cortez said there was also a GPA requirement where they had to show it to apply. Think it

was in 2015-16 and they had to have a GPA of 2.5.

Councilmember Davis said that was not a requirement when Council approved it, but it may have started

when the HR Department took it over, but the main requirement was to be a tribal member.

Mr. John said he will speak to Suzanne Thomas, HR Manager about the program and she can bring forward

the requirements to Council for approval before they start their program.

Councilmember Della John mentioned there was a form for supervisors to complete to show the kids what

tasks they would be learning so they would not just be pulling weeds or scanning to give them a complete

learning experience of a certain job.

Mr. McCauley had to step out and Council moved to another fund code further down their list.

Fund Code 121 Consolidated Higher Education Tribal Funded. The amount that is noted as unspent is

$113,841.47 but Karen Shaw, CHE said they are spending it now. She uses her 638 funds in the Fall and

fund code 121 in the Spring. They approve the full-time students at the beginning of the year and then their

total amount is split for Fall and Spring. There are times when they do not come back in the Spring and

when it comes to reimbursements, sometimes the funds go into their account and the school reimburses

the students when the reimbursement should come back to the Tribe. They also received more ARPA funds,

and she is working with Mr. McCauley on that. They will make a modification for it, and they have until

2026 to spend which is good because they are at 40% with their unmet needs which she would like to keep

at 20%.

Councilmember Davis added the funding must be allocated by 2024 and spent by 2026.

Mr. McCauley returned to chambers.

Councilmember Della John mentioned the shooting that occurred at the university where students were

locked down on campus. Ms. Shaw said they had three students where two were locked down in the library

and one was in their dorm. Councilmember Ely asked what they could do in those instances to provide

them with emergency funds. Ms. Shaw said she would have used part of the ARPA funds if they wanted to

fly home. At the time, they really did not know what was going on with that incident, but the staff stepped

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up and were making sure the Native students were accounted for and made sure they had a place to go.

They were not allowed back on campus; went to staff homes which worked out good for them. The school

was unsure if they were going to close the whole campus but luckily, they did not because they found out

the shooter was only targeting the people that were shot. There was one student who is student working

on his Masters Business degree and he was in the same building the day before where the incident

occurred, so it was a little stressful for him.

Fund Code 102 Museum Tribal Support. Mr. McCauley said they have $54,000 unspent on utilities,

miscellaneous, R&M and travel using the most in the budget and they are good with salaries, not asking for

an increase.

Fund Code 103A Tribal Judicial (one time). Mr. McCauley said they are funded by BIA ARPA and the

amount is subtracted from their total.

Fund Code 104-1 THPO Tribal. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said she is requesting less this year because of

a grant or an increase from her BIA 638 funding.

Fund Code 107 Rental Properties and 107A Realty RV Parks. Mr. John said one is home rentals and the

other is for RVs. 107 is increasing by $5,727. And 107A is decreasing by $14,214.

Councilmember Della John asked if they are trying to generate their own revenue?

Mr. John said when they raised the rates, revenue started coming in, in the last half of the year, which was

more than they made at the old rate at the RV parks. Rental homes are another issue, but his argument was

for them to pay their budgets and to try and get whatever revenue is left after that, but their budgets were

always more than what the revenue should have been generated. Obviously, there was an issue at this

point, but they had to cut it but at the lowest point they could. Currently nothing has really changed, the

only thing reflected in the budget would be the 3% increase that was passed by the Council. The Realty

Manager is looking into contracting for the two employees he was paying before the maintenance guys,

which is working out cheaper and getting a better quality of work.

Councilmember Ely asked about 107A, $170,614.41 unspent? Mr. McCauley updated the amount to

$130,000 unspent. Does it automatically go back into the business?

Mr. John said it is supposed to but that was not how it was operating before. The previous manager would

submit the budgets for $400,000 and they would get approved with that amount, but the revenue was only

$300. This was why he made the statement that they were supplementing their living expenses for those

down there. They are addressing that now, the current manager has a lot of overages where he ended up

having to let go his two maintenance guys that were there and that is funds saved, now he pays a contractor

to do what they were supposed to be doing periodically to keep everything up and working. And it is

working out better for him. They are trying to get it to a point where they only have the revenue and spend

the revenue that they bring in, which is how it should be operating, they should not be coming to the Tribe

for extra funds. Just so the Council is aware, they are trying to get all the rentals under a lease because

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hardly any of them have a current lease. Once that happens, he is getting a licensed home inspector to come

in to provide a list of everything that is wrong with that home then they will get a cost estimate. Then the

manager will bring a business proposal to the Council asking if the Council wants to invest in the home

rental business and this is the amount they need to bring them all up to a livable standard. This is when you

expect to see a return on your money because the rents will then be increased because of the nicer homes

at that point.

Councilmember Della John mentioned they discussed at one time about putting people in substandard

homes creating a liability.

Mr. John said that is what he is finding out now because previously there was no insurance on the homes,

and they cannot get them insured now because of the condition of the homes.

Councilmember Ely said they are not insured now? Mr. John said they are not just under the Tribe’s general

but not specific to a rental home. Councilmember Brady asked if they can be covered under renters’

insurance? Mr. John said he would not know because they do not have a current lease and the renters’

insurance only covers their personal items. The renter’s insurance does not cover the building and at that

point it may fall under the Tribe’s general insurance. However, if it is a business that should be a business

expense and they should be paying for it, and it would reflect in their rent. Currently, nobody wants to pay,

they have been paying way below already and that is if they were even paying at all. It is a lot to address

but it is happening.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said a sizable chunk of their budget they did not spend of the $130,000 looks to

be utilities and tax payments, and that is about $77,000.

Councilmember Della John asked what taxes do they pay? Mr. John said some of them are fee land.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said assumingly the utilities they did not pay was because there was nobody at

the parks?

Mr. John said there is a requirement on the year/model that can be brought in, they are more efficient than

what they used to be there, on electricity all year long. Trying to heat a trailer with a space heater there is

going to be a definite savings in the power bills.

Fund Code 109 Rangers. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they are requesting less funds this year,

$104,000 less. They had $442,001.57 unspent which is the charter funds and unfilled positions or salaries.

Councilmember Ely was still a little confused about the charter funds.

Chief Parsons said that was a decision the Council was going to make, or it sounded like they decided to

hold off and decide when the funds came in, he was not sure about it. The budget he submitted was the

same for last year but included the 3% increase from the Tribe plus the 5% employee step that they get

every year and the corresponding fringe and IDC, this was the only increase asked for by the Rangers.

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Councilmember Ely asked if the charter funds were included in the budget.

Mr. John said it is the same idea as the fireworks, instead of him asking, for example $300,000 now, budget

for $300,000 when it comes in, he is just asking for the entire amount upfront and when the $300,000

comes in, it goes into the General Fund, just like the fireworks. Instead of using the revenue the year it

comes in, it goes into the General Fund, and they use it the next year. The budget is going to stay the same,

it is just how Council allocates the funds.

Councilmember Ely asked at the end of the year, wouldn’t that show a shortfall on the budget?

Mr. John said it doesn’t because for his budget when the charter funds come in, he gets a chunk of the funds

at the end of the year that he must try and spend out before the end of the year. Adding to his budget at the

beginning of the year and budgeted out, he gets a year to obligate it.

Chief Parson said they don’t receive the charter funds until November.

Councilmember Davis said their discussion was for the charter funds being taken out because there were

other places they could use it. Instead of earmarking it for the Rangers, they want to pull it back to the

General Fund where they can put it where there will be shortfalls.

Mr. John said he understands what she is saying but it is not realistic because his budget for the Rangers is

what it is, so instead of having to say I am asking for X amount of dollars from the General Fund, plus X

amount of dollars in charter fees. Now, he is asking for it all from the General Fund instead of saying the

Rangers gets this amount from the charter funds and this amount from the General Fund, now it all comes

from the General Fund. The General Fund is still going to see a hit for that total budget amount, it is just

going to be what it is labeled as. It is so they do not have to do a budget modification.

Councilmember Davis asked what his Ranger budget was before they got the charter fees because this was

a bonus.

Chief Parsons said with IDC they are making close to $900,000 and they use it for large item purchases,

operational costs and they have four to seven employees in the Rangers that pay their salaries from that

budget. Last year was just over a million dollars and this year will be the same.

Mr. John said this became an issue when the charter amount was raised. They were getting the charter fees

already, but they were less, same number of people but less fees. It did not seem that much at that time but

when the fees were almost tripled, they were getting a sizable chunk of money instead of a smaller one and

that is when it became an issue.

Chief Parsons said they try to keep the budgets as clean as possible with what the Council approves. They

mod $1000 here and there when they get reimbursed for something, but it is one thing but when you are

trying to mod in $150,000 that is different.

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Councilmember Ely asked if Council decided another department needed the charter funds and moved it

over, would the Rangers be counting on those funds.

Chief Parsons said he does not use the charter funds for salaries, they use them to purchase sizable items

that they would normally purchase through the General Fund, new vehicles or a boat, something big. The

past year they replaced all their radios which were coming to the end of their lifespan and those items were

expensive. If the Tribe decides that funding is going to go somewhere else, then that is where it is going to

go, and they will figure it out by using funds for a different line item that they can move around.

Councilmember Cortez asked about a watercraft in his budget.

Chief Parsons said they do have a boat but when they have an emergency, for instance with a swimmer, it

takes them longer to get a boat in the water and it takes two people. They were looking at a solo operator

type boat that they can launch from the Marina. The Rangers are good on vehicles, they got them good

vehicles within the last two years, so they are looking for something that is smaller and has a quicker

response. That is what they would like to purchase this year.

Councilmember Cortez asked for an explanation on what safety investigative and operational means.

Chief Parson said it means everything, it could be radios, emergency equipment for vehicles, flares, first aid

kits, new personal equipment for the Rangers like sticks that pick-up trash on the beach to dog cages and

any type of equipment they could use for the job.

Councilmember Davis said she thought it was a motion to remove the charter fees from the Rangers.

Chief Parsons said if the current budget is less now than that is not what he submitted. It sounds like it has

been adjusted.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said this budget shows $1,000,002 last year and $1,100,000 for this year.

Chief Parsons said the budget he submitted would have been a little bit larger than last year because of the

salary increase and in the corresponding increase to the fringe benefits. It would have been slightly larger

than last year. So, if this year’s budget is less than last year’s then it sounds like finance has already done

what the Council wanted to do.

Mr. McCauley said he did not touch it.

Councilmember Cortez asked if everything was included that he budgeted for?

Chief Parsons said they are going into this year with two staff down, so they are advertising replacing one

and then hopefully get a job description for the second position.

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January 31, 2024, Special Budget minutes

Mr. McCauley said he mentioned it before, he feels it just complicates things when it comes in at the end of

year, like Chief Parsons said he has to worry about getting it and they have to worry about posting it and

the Council has to worry about allocated it somewhere specifically, it just makes it more difficult.

Councilmember Ely agreed, he is worried when they get to that point, hopefully they never get to that point

where they must supplement a department and take it out of the General Fund and then Chief Parsons

must readjust his budget.

Chief Parsons said they had their budget last year and then they threw the charter fees on top of that. What

they are saying is they will take the same budget as last year; they do not need the charter fees on top of it.

He thinks the Tribe can use that funding at the end of the year for any department who may need it.

Mr. McCauley said it looks like contract services and equipment over $5,000 was reduced because he

initially had $100,000 in contracts and now there is only $67,000.

Chief Parsons said they were working with the GSA; they had their first GSA vehicles, and they are seeing

how that worked throughout the year.

Mr. McCauley said the salary increased to $460,000 from last year at $370,000 so those increases are in his

budget.

Councilmember Della John said if they can contract with GSA, which is the way to go because the Tribe can

reduce their insurance costs and if they can pay, it is an allowable cost under their 638.

Mr. John asked if they could explain the differences or similarities between the Rangers and Police Officers,

what they are empowered to do.

Chief Parsons said a Ranger is a certified Peace Office, they are sent to Post or to the BIA Academy, they are

sworn, and their job description has their duties to enforce all tribal, federal, and state laws. Their primary

function is fish and game, permit compliance and environmental protection but they are peace officers. If

they must issue a citation or make an arrest, they have the authority to do so per their job description.

Police Officers have the same qualifications as a law enforcement officer, everything is the same with their

primary function is to enforce tribal, federal, and state laws on the reservation, they get more in depth with

traffic enforcement, criminal investigations plus they are also tasked with civil service work, transport,

security, etc. The Police Department protects the neighborhoods, and the Rangers protect the lake and the

land. But at the end of the day, when there is an emergency, they all come together for the people. If they

have a Priority One call, for example domestic family dispute and there is only one Ranger and one Police

Officer on duty, both will be dispatched. If they have two officers on duty and one Ranger then the Ranger is

not called in unless it is a dire situation and they need a third officer but honestly during the day, they only

have one officer and one ranger on duty.

Councilmember Della John said she remembers in the past they would have the Peace Officers secure the

scene and wait for the proper authority to show up because it might be on fee land or trust land.

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Chief Parsons said they oversee everything here; they do not call other agencies to come in and handle

crimes scenes unless it is federal or unless it is truly county because there are no Natives involved. So, it

was a long time ago. Highway Patrol only comes in if there is an accident and it is a non-Native driver

otherwise, they oversee the accident and that is per Highway Patrol’s regulations. If it is a Native driver,

even though it is in a state, or right of way, it is what they consider dual jurisdiction and that is where they

come in and oversee those accidents.

Councilmember Della John asked if the officers are dual certified?

Chief Parsons said they have the authority by the Tribe, and they have authority through their 638

contracts from the federal government and then the State gives Tribal police and BIA officers the authority

to enforce State law on non-Natives within the boundary of the reservation.

Councilmember Della John said they do not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Natives.

Chief Parsons said she is correct, NRS 171-1255 is the State of Nevada giving tribal officers and BIA police

officers the authority to enforce State law on non-Natives within the boundaries of the reservation. If you

have a non-Native commit a crime, they do not have to call the county to come in and oversee it, the State

has given the authority to those tribal officers or BIA officers to enforce State law on those non-Natives. But

when they get to court, it will be the Justice Court in Wadsworth or Sparks, it will not be in tribal court.

Councilmember Della John said it is just misdemeanors not criminals.

Chief Parsons said it could be felonies because the State does not have major crimes. They have felonies.

The federal government has major crimes, different terminology, but they are all bad crimes. If you are

talking murder and you have a non-Native commit murder on the reservation and there is not a Native

involved, they will be calling county to come in and investigate that crime because it is a homicide. They

would not do it, they do not have the staff, the detectives, or investigators. If it is a domestic dispute, non-

Native who lives on the reservation with a Native and its domestic violence, it will be a State crime because

Tribal Court cannot prosecute the non-Native for battering. They will arrest the individual, but they will go

to Justice Court. If the non-Native strangles a native person, then it elevates to a major crime on the federal

side, and they call FBR BIA to take the case federally because the victim is Native.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth thanked Chief Parsons for the explanation and moving on to the next fund code.

Fund Code 111 JOM Tribal Tax Funded Match. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they are asking for less.

Councilmember Ely asked why they were asking for less when they mentioned they needed a van.

Mr. John said they are looking to get a van through the ARPA funding which was funds that were left over

from the funds given to the membership. The whole request will be coming before the Council for approval.

This was the distribution that occurred back in 2020.

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Vice Chairman Wadsworth said the director’s salary is not paid out of the tax funding, just the teacher’s

aides and youth worker.

Councilmember Della John said he has a BIA allocation and tribal match.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said salaries increased along with fringe, but he removed field trips which was

$5,500, and his R&M was decreased also.

Councilmember Della John said he had $94,00 unspent.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said his budget request is $126,868.00 but the handout says $121,000 for this

year. Mr. McCauley said the director asked to have his budget increased to his original 2023 budget of

$126,000 because he was lowered to $121,000. Confirmed his budget will remain the same as last year

2023. The amount unspent is $88,000 with the majority from salaries and fringe. The position was vacant

for a while, and he had no staff. Vice Chairman Wadsworth also noted the two employees did not qualify for

health insurance which was a huge savings because the cost per year is $11,724. Mr. McCauley said one of

the employees qualified for health insurance at 1040 hours, but the youth worker did not with 340 hours.

Councilmember Brady asked if he was getting a new van?

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it will be brought before Council with all the documentation to use the

ARPA funding to purchase a van. To clarify, when they first received the ARPA funding of about $20 million,

they gave out $6 million to the Tribal members which was $3,000 per member times 2,000 members. Not

all the members took the funds so there is funding left over. The plan for these funds will be brought before

the Council.

Fund Code 112 Social Services. There is an increase of $113,198. for this budget. Councilmember Della

John said it is the IGA program for the increase. It was noted they had $178,000 and are asking for

$291,000 but they had $151,000 unspent. Mr. McCauley said the unspent is $113,000 and she does have

ARPA funding to supplement her budget. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they spent half for somebody’s

salary and IGA.

Mr. McCauley said they mentioned using the ARPA funding for the elder requests to take the strain off

Tribal funding. Councilmember Brady said during their retreat they talked about inserting an elder’s

assistance person, can that position be a part of their budget? Vice Chairman Wadsworth said that may be a

part of the increase. Sherry Ely-Mendes, Program Officer who oversees the Social Service Program said she

has not discussed that with them, she just finished revamping the job description and it will go through the

Personnel Committee process and be brought to Council. Then they will have to figure out how they will

fund it and place the position. The directive from the Council was not to have it with Social Services, for it to

be a standalone program and place it where it will be relevant to everybody. To note, Social Services has a

position that collaborates with elders, however, these are elders in need of care, they are under Social

Service's care, so they serve them, not just all elders. The department has been able to help because of the

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ARPA funds or the funds they received from BIA, but they will be spent in September, and it will be done.

Regarding the budget, she was not working specifically with this program and not sure where the increase

was. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it is a 40% increase for an extra $100,000. This one they will hold for

verification.

113 Domestic Violence. The information was missing for the Council to review. Mr. McCauley said this is

one of the departments that just turned in a physical sheet. They will hold this for more information.

114 Tribal Recreation Program. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they are asking for an increase of

$84,000 and they are at $105,000 unspent. Mr. McCauley said this is for equipment over $5,000 and

Contracts Services $13,000. Vice Chairman Wadsworth noted Ms. Crutcher was only on the job for % the

year. Councilmember Ely asked what type of services does she provide? Wondering if they would pay the

school during their summer program because she does take the kids to get them fed. It was noted that was

under a grant. Ms. Mendes said they get reimbursement for the number of kids they take for meals.

Councilmember Cortez said for contracted services she contracts with various people for presentations for

the kids which could be athletic, cultural or youth type presentations or activities.

Councilmember Davis said she remembers when this program came up and the program director was

speaking there was confusion regarding supplies for the gym, does it come out of this budget or out of the

maintenance budget? She was saying that her supplies were only for her, and she was not budgeting for the

gym. Was that taken care of? Ms. Mendes said they agreed to disagree, the maintenance department bought

her items for cleaning so she should have supplies to upkeep the gym. They are ordering new push brooms

and different items specific for the gym. She is not the only one using the gym, she is only managing who is

in there.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said she is also asking for an increase for the Wadsworth gym. Ms. Mendes said

more than likely she will oversee the Wadsworth gym. Unless the Council decides to renovate it and make it

into something else which is up to the Tribe. But for now, it is a gym and as soon as they get the keys and

start checking the building out, there will be requests for that building.

Councilmember Ely said he does not see where the extra $84,000 increase is for.

Vice Chairman said there is an increase of $10,000 for food, supplies and materials increased from $4,300

to $13,000, telephone increasing to $2,000, training increasing to $2,500, and gas increasing to $1,200 to

$12,000. This one they will hold.

Fund Code 115 Law Enforcement Tribal Match. Chief Parsons said the majority of 115 is operational

costs. There are two full-time employees and two part-time employees. This budget has not increased from

last year. Only the salaries were increased. Two of them who are part-time do not qualify for health

insurance.

Councilmember Della John asked what he receives in his 638 contracts and how much for traffic? Chief

Parsons said he received $681,000 in his 638 contract this year and for traffic, it is reimbursement, so it

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depends on how much they work, $1,500 is the most they have received in one month. It is for programs

like “click it or ticket” or distracted driving and it is based off a reimbursement form they must submit to

tell them the hours the officers were dedicated to the assignment, and they reimburse the Tribe which

usually takes about three months. Councilmember Della John asked what they receive from the Wadsworth

Court. Chief Parsons said that will depend on the citation revenue, currently they have been averaging

$1,000 a month, especially since they have transitioned traffic from criminal to civil, a big drop off. They

used to average about $1,600 a month. They utilize it for line items that are not in the fund code 115, like

travel and training which are not a part of the 115 budgets. Councilmember Della John asked if that was

their only revenue stream? Chief Parsons said they have one CTAS grant which supports two employees,

one position is filled, and the other is not because they can only fill it with a new hire, and they cannot hire

anyone. If they had both positions filled it would be expending about $200,000 per employee. The parttime employees do not get insurance because they are 30 hours or less and they want to be that way

because they have employment elsewhere, they have careers elsewhere, but they are certified officers, and

they work here part-time. They do fill the unmet need for the department.

Vice Chairman confirmed their budget increased for the salary.

Fund Code 116 Irrigation Program Tribal. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they are increasing for the

salaries from $78,000 to $100,000. There is overtime which decreased. They are adding $6,000 for contract

services. They are asking for an increase of $14,000.

Fund Code 118 PUD (Water /Solid Waste), 11B PUD WATER & SEWER AND 118C PUD WADSWORTH

TRANSFER STATION. Councilmember Ely noted they are asking for an increase of $25,658.37 and they

have $160,785.61 unspent. Mr. John said the only increase was for the salaries, there are funds left over

because they did not have a director and he is paid by all three of the PUD fund codes. They were short on

drivers and water operators, so they were understaffed for all last year. They are not anymore though; this

year they have a full staff. The director is interim, and the reason is when the job description was

developed, it had extensive education and experience otherwise you do not qualify. He is going to change

that to a combination of education and experience, and it is on the agenda for the next Personnel

Committee agenda, then they will interview, and he will come before Council. The reason they did not get

any applicants was because the job description was so strict.

Councilmember Della John asked if the revenue offset the $1.1 million requested. Mr. John said not even

close, the only increase is in the salaries. The water fee cannot be raised, it is a set amount, the garbage fee

has not changed for years so that is a set amount. The only place they rely on to try to generate revenue

was the transfer station and that goes up and down depending on how busy people are. Vice Chairman

Wadsworth said it is the services the Tribe provides since they are subsidizing the cost for water and

sewer. Mr. John said the revenue that does come in only covers the budget for 118 which is where it goes

anyway.

Councilmember Brady said he would have to raise the rates since the population is getting older. Mr. John

said that one of the things he has noticed is the trend where there are now pages of elders where before it

was a page and a half. The paying population is shrinking and that is partly because there are no homes

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

January 31, 2024, Special Budget minutes

being built and people are just ageing. It needs to go back to the PUD Board for approval, but they will not

approve it.

122 EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRIBAL FUNDED. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said this budget decreased by

$5,685. Councilmember Della John said he is requesting $1,725,528 and she wants to know, out of that

amount, what revenue generated from third party? Don Pelt, EMS Coordinator, told her that Washoe

County paid $45,000 a month for the Washoe County Agreement. She is unsure what his other grants are.

What is the cost ratio of him servicing the non-members versus the tribal members because this is tribal

funding to service his whole operation which includes non-native people. To her, it is confusing because it

looks like he is overextending and it does not look like it is going to be enough funding, even if they gave

him what he is asking for to keep the program running.

Mr. McCauley agreed he is overextending but he had a discussion with him on what he was over on and

recommended he decrease his 2024 budget by that amount, which he is aware of has happened in the past.

If he overspent $80,000, he will be decreased by $80,000 for the next year for going over. It was a

discussion they had had with him the previous week. He was approved to spend $1.4 million, but he spent

$1.5 million, and the consequences for anyone should be if you went over, you were not approved for that

amount, it will be taken out of your 2024 budget. Councilmember Ely asked if that happened? Mr. McCauley

said he did exceed, previously he mentioned once, not sure when in history it happened but he is familiar

with that happening to somebody who overspent. The amount is currently $113,000, which will be

decreased. It is either to cut their budget or when the time comes, cut the department off and they will have

to make alternative decisions. Ms. Mendes said they had sit-down discussions about this budget, and they

are satisfied in the end they are all on the same page of where it should not be, and it was less than and it

was with cutting the $113,000.

Councilmember Ely had a concern that if it is not shown in the budgets presented, it sounds like he will

forget about it in July and think if he has the funds, he is going to spend it and they will be in the same

situation again.

Mr. McCauley said he is holding off on his and will discuss with him amending his budget, so it shows the

reduction of $1.6 million.

Ms. Mendes said she does not think they need to revisit; they went over it internally and for that specific

reason, she thinks he decreased the gas line item, and it did not spend it out and they figured he could live

with what they have. They had sit-down meetings with him to make sure they had it in line.

Mr. McCauley said he told him and Ms. Mendes heard him say, “I know, when you overspend and it has

happened in the past,” and that is what is approved, they are approving someone to spend a certain

amount, if not over that amount, there needs to be some consequences otherwise, why waste their time and

let people spend whatever they want during the year.

Councilmember Davis agreed to decrease the budget by $113,000 and for him to go back and figure out his

budget with the funds they give him.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

January 31, 2024, Special Budget minutes

This budget will be held for an updated budget.

Fund Code 123A Technology Services and 123B Technology Service Revenue. They have $80,000 in

unspent in123A. Salaries increased, contracted increased a little amount, supplies increased, training is

new. They have two employees who are full-time and two hired under their ARPA funding. With $80,000

left over, it was taken out of tribal and should be put back into indirect, they are unsure how this happened

during the change of Comptrollers, an oversight but Mr. McCauley can correct it.

Councilmember Della John asked what is the revenue pay? Vice Chairman Wadsworth said equipment

greater than $5,000, network services for the internet to the outside.

Fund Code 125 Tax Department Operating. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they increased by $7,900

which is their salaries, and they have $114,000 unspent.

Councilmember Ely asked about the license plate funding they receive from the State which goes into its

own account. Vice Chairman Wadsworth said that funding has stipulations on how it can be spent, and it

cannot just be used in the General Fund.

Councilmember Cortez said it looks like their funding that was not spent came from their legal line item.

Fund Code 128 Business Office. Mr. John said the increase is the same as the other budgets, salaries for

the 3% increase. Legal was his biggest expense he did not use. For clarification, since they pay a flat fee for

the Tribe’s attorney, anything that is not specific to his departments, he sends to the Tribe’s attorney to

utilize the fee they are paying each month. He has been told that the Council had issues with him sending

those bills to that attorney or using that attorney’s services, but he wanted to clarify, if that is an issue, he

can pay it out of his own budget.

Councilmember Ely said they pay a flat fee of $9,000 a month and he recommends they use the heck out of

her services.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth clarified he is asking if the Tribe is paying $9,000, and Mr. John used $4,000,

does he pay $4,000 and then the Tribe pays the $5,000 balance.

Councilmember Della John thought it was fair because it would give him a picture of how much he is

spending on legal and if the Tribe does not have that attorney again and when he does his budgets, he will

have a dollar amount for his legal use.

Mr. John said the attorney separates when she does work for him and when she talks to him, but he just

figured since they are paying $9,000, they might as well send her work. A reminder that her contract

expired last year.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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Councilmember Davis said the attorney does not itemize her work, just who she talks to and the hours, so

they do not know the dollar amount.

Councilmember Ely said the Council directed the Chairman to start an RFP for legal services.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth confirmed the fund codes they were going to hold are 072A and 080A for the

indirect to be corrected, 112, 113, 114, and 122. And remove 103 Judicial.

Councilmember Ely motioned to table 072A (Tribal Council Indirect), 080A (Tribal Chairman Indirect), 112

(Social Services), 113 (Domestic Violence), 114 (Tribal Recreation Program), 122 (Emergency Response) and

to remove 103A (Judicial).

Councilmember Guerrero said they need to approve the whole budget so they know the amount of the

2024 budget which is going to change, the unspent is going to be changed so the tribal budgets are going to

be different than what they will have with the changes.

No second to the motion. MOTION DIED.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said the changes to 112 for emergency services being decreased to $1.6 million,

the 112, 113, and 114, they did not have the budgets to review and the 080A and 072 budgets both had

indirect added to the budgets which need to be removed.

Mr. McCauley will provide the cleaned-up budgets with the bottom-line numbers. For an update before the

distribution was done, they estimated about $2.5 in unspent after January 21st. They are now at $2.1

compared to 2023.

Councilmember Davis motioned to table the 2024 Tribal Budget as presented and to bring it back before

Tribal Council at the February 2, 2024, Regular Council meeting. The Comptroller is to provide updated

worksheets for 112 (Social Services), 113 (Domestic Violence), 114 (Tribal Recreation Program), and 122

(Emergency Response). Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero

(0) opposed with three (3) abstentions (Davis, Della John, Guerrero). MOTION PASSED

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Tribal Council, Councilmember Cortez made a motion to adjourn the

meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Guerrero. Votes taken were all in favor, motion

carried.

The meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m.

Submitted by,

Pande 0:

Brenda A. Henry

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

January 31, 2024, Special Budget minutes

Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid

Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 15% day of March 2024, having eight (8) members present,

constituting a quorum, by the vote of seven £7) FOR and ze PPOSED;with zero (0) ABSTENTIONS.

Lo -

Minutes attested and concurred by: (4

Steven Wadsworth, Vice Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

//

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