Diné special session only draws
37 delegates

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council met in a special session Wednesday to take action on the annual report from auditors KPMG on the combined financial statements of the Navajo Nation for fiscal year 2007. However, the Council failed to attain a quorum before it could act on legislation to accept the report.

The special session was dissolved at 4:44 p.m. because only 37 delegates were present. At least 45 delegates — or 50 percent plus one — are needed for a quorum.
Joshua Lavar Butler, communications director for the Legislative Branch, said that he has heard no plans for another special session. The Council will hold a work session on Friday and begins its summer session on Monday.

The Council did hear two reports during Wednesday’s special session. The Council added a report on OnSat and BCDS Manufacturing Inc. to the agenda and went into executive session because of ongoing litigation until 12:45 p.m. The report was accepted with a directive to hire a special investigator and special prosecutor to conduct an investigation into the loss of $2.2 million from the nation’s Navajo Dam escrow account, according to the Council speaker's office.

The audit report that was not accepted because of lack of a quorum contained important information regarding the Navajo Nation’s finances, however, the contents of the report were released to the public..

According to the audit report, the nation's assets exceeded its liabilities by more than $1.6 billion at Sept. 30, 2007.
The report stated that in FY 2007, the expenses of the nation’s governmental activities totaled $528,926,312. The most amount of money — $147,138,721 — was spent on health and welfare and the second highest amount was for general government at $104,842,466.

For economic development in FY 2007, the report stated that the nation expended nearly $7.5 million. For community and rural development, the nation expended $97,466,968 and for education and training $84,620,282.

According to the audit report, the nation’s funds benefited significantly from its investments. For FY 2007, the nation’s governmental funds experienced a $118.7 million increase in fair value and the fiduciary funds experienced a $40.9 million increase in fair value, the report stated.

The nation also received $97.8 million in FY 2007 from oil and gas royalties and coal royalties. It was a decrease of about $19.5 million from FY 2006 due mostly to decreased coal production and the closure of Black Mesa Mine.
In FY 2007, the nation’s Permanent Fund net assets increased $158,383,794, according to the audit report.
The legislation to accept the audit report was not acted on.
The Council also accepted the Navajo Nation investment report presented by Controller Mark Grant. The report — titled “The Impact of Recent Market Movements on the Navajo Nation Master Investment Portfolio and Permanent Fund” — was accepted by a vote of 51-0.