2. Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians
Briefing Presented by
Deb DuMontier,
Deputy Special Trustee
Tribal Interior Budget Council Meeting
August 5-6, 2015
Albuquerque, New Mexico
11/14/2018

3. Today’s Topics: Appraisal Services Probate Reform
Transition of functions to the U.S. Treasury
Investment review
Debit voucher
Funding History and Status of FY 2016 budget
11/14/2018

4. Appraisal Services Customer Service Outreach and Communication
Collaborate with BIA Superintendents, OST Fiduciary Trust Officers, tribal Appraisal and Realty Programs to:
Develop a uniform appraisal request process and timelines
Develop training curriculums on the valuation process, use of the Office of Appraisal Services Information System (OASIS), and other topics identified by stakeholders
11/14/2018

5. Appraisal Services Customer Service Outreach and Communication
Update the Office of Appraisal Services Webpage on the OST Website to provide:
Appraisal request status information
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) about appraisals
Local contact information for obtaining appraisal information
11/14/2018

6. Appraisal Services Customer Service
Memorandum of Understanding with BIA
Serve as a Service Level Agreement on roles and responsibilities of BIA and OST-OAS to improve communication and partnership
11/14/2018

7. Appraisal Services Our Priorities
Hire and train twelve Native American appraiser trainees
Enhance services and communication with internal and external stakeholders
Effectively manage appraisal workload and status reporting
Fill vacant Review Appraiser positions
Collaborate with the OAS regions to use Mass Appraisals by adjusting models to fit regional operations
Provide training to BIA and tribes on the appraisal request process, valuation process, use of OASIS, and effective use of appraisal and review reports
11/14/2018

8. Probate Reform Update
OST continues to work with our DOI partners at BIA, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) and representatives from Indian Country to provide:
Approaches to reduce burden of current federal probate process
Useful estate planning opportunities and tools for Indian Trust beneficiaries
11/14/2018

9. Probate Reform Update
OST exploring administrative (i.e., non-legislative) options to implement Transfer on Death and Small Estate Affidavit for IIM Accounts
OST anticipates working with Congress to support legislation that will reform the probate process and provide beneficiaries greater access to established private sector estate planning options
Field Operations has initial contract vehicle in place to provide legal services to beneficiaries for the development of Wills and other estate planning options. Additional funding for this valuable program was requested for FY2016
11/14/2018

10. Probate Reform Update
Other activities to improve the probate process and provide meaningful estate planning opportunities include:
Secretary’s Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform
Secretary’s Reaffirmation of the Trust Principles
Special Trustee’s FY2016 Budget Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs
National Congress of American Indians Trust Modernization Workgroup (2015 Mid-Year Conference)
Indian Land Tenure Foundation Events
11/14/2018

11. Transition Functions to the US Treasury
As of the end of July 2015 Treasury in Kansas City is printing all of OST's beneficiary checks including EOP's, Tribal and IIM Statements of Performance, and BIA's invoices generated from TAAMS
Currently the following items are scheduled to be transitioned to Treasury by the end of this calendar year;  the Special Trustee's annual audit letter notification to Tribal and IIM beneficiaries  and all of the annual tax information that OST provides to beneficiaries 
11/14/2018

12. Investment Review Update
Investment Review Team established to perform comprehensive review and analysis of OST’s investment policies, practices, and procedures
Goals
To have an independent contractor research, investigate and review investment compliance and risk management activities
Conduct strategic risk assessment
Assess operational processes
Submit a final report of findings; implement final recommendations

13. Investment Review Update
Work divided into three phases:
Phase I – Research; use of independent third party contractor for document and data collection/analysis
Phase II – evaluation of findings during Phase I; submission of final recommendations (OST staff currently in Phase II)
Phase III – Special Trustee will review findings and make a determination of next steps; implementation

14. Debit Vouchers
Still fleshing out a number issues regarding the proposed holding of checks for five days  
Need to clarify that OST would only hold non- guaranteed funds and all other funds would not be subject to the five day holding period (e.g. oil and gas)
We are also looking into Banking and Treasury regulations to see if there is any guidance or restrictions on how long a check can be held before being credited to an account and if OST would be subject to any of the guidance or restrictions.
From May 2014 to May 2015 there were over $345, in debit vouchers
11/14/2018

15. Pending Legislation in the 114th Congress
H.R. 812 (Simpson) and S. 383 (Crapo)
“companion bills” with identical texts
reworked version of bills from previous congresses
Title II
Directs the Department of the Interior to establish a 10 year (may be extended at Interior's discretion) demonstration project that allows tribes to manage their own trust assets, both financial and non-financial
11/14/2018

16. Funding History
Congress first appropriated funding to OST in 1997 of $34 million.
In the same year, BIA’s budget increased by $47 million.
Since 1997, the BIA budget has increased by over 60 percent, from $1.6 billion to $2.6 billion.
OST’s budget peaked in 2005, at $228 million, and has been declining since to its current level of $139 million.
11/14/2018

17. OST/BIA Appropriations: FY 1996-2015
FY15: OST
$139 Million
11/14/2018

18. FY 2016 Budget Request
FY 2016 budget request included full funding of fixed cost increases and three program increases:
+$1.6 million for estate planning opportunities for trust beneficiaries to stem fractionation and the number of estates requiring probate
+$1.2 million for an appraiser training program to address the shortage of qualified appraisers
+$1.02 million to expand the records training program at Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) and create new records training programs at two additional tribal colleges
11/14/2018

19. FY 2016 Budget Request
Both House and Senate committee bills would fund OST in the amount of $139 M, level with FY funding
Best case scenario - OST’s FY 2016 appropriation will be the same as FY 2015 ($139 M)
11/14/2018

20. OST Budget Trend
11/14/2018

21. Questions?

22. Thank you!