Tribe receives COPS Tribal Resources Grant

From the desk of Marcus Wells, Jr., Four Bears Council Representative.
The Three Affiliated Tribes has received word from Mr. Thomas C. Frazier, Director of the Grants Administration Division of the receipt of $662,803 grant dollars requiring a $73,645 Tribal Match for the procurement of Uniforms, Equipment and 14 -Police Cars, 8 Four Wheeled Police Vehicles for the COPS Fast Officers of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
During the fall of 1999 the tribe found a need to secure more equipment and police cars during, however upon looking into the issue the deadlines had passed for any grants.
However, the Tribe invested enough Tribal Dollars for ten (10) Handguns and two (2) in the interim for the immediate needs with the emphasis being directed to the Four Bears Segment since it was reported to the Council Representative that the Cops Fast Officers had to transport prisoners with the personal vehicles, and the Council found that unacceptable.
Therefore during the spring of 2000 in meeting with DOJ in Washington DC and the local BIA Authorities it was decided to submit applications to attain some funding for the much needed equipment and cop cars.
In April 2000, the Tribal Business Council received the applications packets and contracted the services of Lisa Redford  a Tribal Member who has been successful in applying for grants in the past for the Tribe and Ms. Redford then packaged the two grant applications with the equipment and vehicles list needs submitted by BIA Law Administrators. The Tribal Council was then  presented with the (two) Tribal Council Resolutions  #00-121-DSB and #00-122-DSB.  Ms. Redford requested only $1,600  for her services. Thank You, Lisa Redford.!

Tribe to Advertise for Chief Financial Officer and second Comptroller

On October 12, 2000, the Tribal Business Council voted to advertise for two finance positions; a Chief Financial Officer and a second Comptroller to meet the Tribes needs in the area of Accounting and Finance. During the request presented by Myself the Treasurer of the Three Affiliated Tribes, it was found that the Three Affiliated Tribes administer the same size budget as the city of Minot, North Dakota, therefore the Tribe needs to beef up the expertise in the Tribal Finance Department in order to accomplish the accounting and reporting required of the membership of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Tribe plans on advertising and filing the positions as soon as November 2000. The Salaries specified for the positions are based on the qualifications and education required by the Job Descriptions the Chief Financial Officer would require a CPA and required number of years of Tribal Accounting Experience for a salary from $60,000 to $100,000 per annum. The second Tribal Comptroller with a CPA Preferred with a salary of $40,000 to $60,000. Per annum.
The Tribe runs between $35, 000,000 to $40,000,000 dollars through the Tribal Finance system with a current staff that is in need of financial expertise to annually be prepared for federal and general fund audits without the need to contract audit prep firms as has been done for the last ten (10) years or so.
But we have come this far with the current staff and they have to be commended however, with the number of dollars that are to be accounted for the Tribe must insure the accurate accounting of our financial position at any given date and time, rather than a Audit Report which is normally a picture of the financial situation a year or two after the fact.  However, The Tribal membership as well as the Tribal Business Council demands this information on much sooner basis in order to ensure the survival of the Three Affiliated Tribes.
I would like to thank the Tribal Council for their Support on this important Issue.

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