Nya:wëh sgënö,
I hope everyone is doing well with the residual smoke haze around our Territory last week. Anyone with compromised breathing conditions should stay indoors as much as possible.
I’d like to congratulate all of our local high school teams who advanced to sectionals and regionals this season: Lake Shore/Silver Creek Boys Varsity Lacrosse, Lake Shore/Silver Creek Girls Varsity Lacrosse, Salamanca Boys Varsity Lacrosse, Gowanda Boys Lacrosse, Gowanda Girls Lacrosse, Gowanda Varsity Baseball teams. A huge shout out goes to Gowanda Girls Softball team who won the State Championship. Ja:göh! This is a historical victory for Gowanda Central.
This year’s budget season is currently underway. Department Directors submitted their budget requests in for consideration. A new goal for the budget process is creating a savings pathway toward an endowment fund. This will secure funding for future budgets and projects.
The Nation was recently awarded Treasury capital project funding that will support a computer lab upgrade for the Training and Resource Centers (TERC) on both Territories. This will support more access for students in multiple training programs.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is hosting a Tribal Consultation on the tax status of Tribally chartered corporations. The consultations will be held Wednesday, June 21, 2023, and Thursday, June 22, 2023, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Treasury is accepting written comments until August 18, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Alaska Time. Seneca Nation representatives will be present and submit comments.
Lastly, the 2022 independent audit process has been completed and will be forwarded to Council for their review at next months meeting. Great job to the fiscal department for preparing for this review each year.
As always, stay safe and stay strong,
Dah ne’hoh dih ae’
Matthew B. Pagels
