Despite rumors to the contrary, the Three Affiliated Tribes is not experiencing budget woes, says Chairman Tex Hall.

Hall said Thursday that the tribe's budget is balanced and will be when its fiscal year ends in September.

The rumors started after an internal memo leaked that said the tribe might not be able to meet Thursday's $750,000 payroll to tribal employees. The memo was written June 15 by chief financial officer Steve Salveson to members of the tribal council.

Salveson said Wednesday that the council took action that will allow the tribe to make its payroll this week and twice a month through the fiscal year. And he agreed Thursday with Hall that the Three Affiliated Tribes' budget is balanced.

Hall said he wasn't concerned that the tribe would meet its payroll obligation. And he said rumors that the tribe had budget problems were unfounded.

"It's really a cash-flow issue," Hall said. "It's not a bankrupt issue, not (a situation) where the tribe is in debt. That's a complete laugher."

The chairman said the tribe experiences cash-flow problems from time to time, and there was such a problem in June when Salveson's memo went out.

"It's his job to sound the alarm," Hall said.

Part of the cash-flow problem came this winter, Hall said, when profits at the 4 Bears Casino slowed. The memo showed the casino lagging in revenue by $500,000. In the document, Salveson said that the tribe was $70,000 in the red, due partly because of the lack of casino business. Hall said the casino is making up ground this summer. Salveson confirmed that in the memo, claiming the $500,000 had been reduced to $300,000.

Tribal CEO Richard Mayer said money shortages are likely due to growing pains on the reservation. Hall explained that the tribe is currently involved in a few major projects, investing $6 million in a new community center and $4 million in a housing project for single families.

The only place Hall said the tribe owed money was on a $1.8 million loan it received to help build a combination adult and juvenile detention center. That money is being paid back over a 30-year period, Hall said.

Still, Nathan Hale, president of Mandaree Inc., a position similar to town mayor, said his community officeholders have asked the federal government to audit the tribe's finances.

They've asked federal officials to look at contracts, JTAC trust allocations, revenue and travel expenses.

According to tribe documents, travel expenses from 2001 to 2004 were $1.2 million, with $60,000 still owed.

Hale said tribal financial officials have told him "there are definitely problems. There's been a concern all along that revenues don't support spending."

Hale has filed to run for the Mandaree position on the tribal council this fall.

He said he's worried that the tribe's dependency on using JTAC trust funds as loan collateral compromises the financial future for coming generations.

"We don't have it, and they're stealing from Paul to pay Peter," he said.

Salveson said in order to get through the rest of the fiscal year, the tribal council amended its budget and adopted programs to access JTAC trust money.

Also in his memo, Salveson said the tribe had bills of $230,000 to meet in June, plus $200,000 in bond payments.

He said the tribe was awaiting a $400,000 tax settlement. He said the federal Department of Justice owed the tribe $225,000, but that was pending a 2002 audit result, which Salveson said had been extended through June.

In the memo, Salveson said without another loan or other revenues, the tribe couldn't meet payroll. He recommended "at minimum" that the tribe pass a new budget including all programs that draw JTAC trust money.

He wrote, "I have attached a balanced budget that I prepared from taking our current report and deleting the deficit line, the contingency line, and putting an amount on the (Bureau of Outdoor Recreation) line to balance the report. This is not our actual budget, but we must pass something so that the (Office of Special Trusts) has new schedules for us to draw against."