Few American Indian fuel buyers used a new law that allowed them to request refunds of North Dakota's motor fuels tax, probably because of the program's strict documentation requirements, officials say.

Tribal chairmen have suggested alternatives, and a legislative interim committee on tribal-state relations is exploring the issue. The panel's chairman is Sen. Bob Stenehjem, R-Bismarck, the Senate majority leader.

Under the law, most North Dakota Indian customers who buy fuel on their tribe's reservation may get a refund of the state's 23-cents-a-gallon motor fuels tax. The policy does not apply when gasoline or diesel fuel is bought off the reservation, or if an Indian customer buys fuel on another tribe's reservation.

Standing Rock Sioux tribal members are not eligible, because most state fuel tax revenue collected on the Standing Rock reservation already goes to the tribe, as part of a state-tribal agreement that took effect in January 1999. The accord brought the tribe $273,118 in fuel tax revenue during North Dakota's last state budget year.

The deadline for Indian customers to request refunds on fuel they bought last year passed June 30.

Last week, the Tax Department had processed 98 claims, said Kevin Schatz, an agency supervisor. Sixty-five claims, totaling $13,492 in refunds, had been paid. The smallest refund was $5.47, while the largest was $1,855.

Some claims still must be processed, Schatz said. Others that were initially denied may be paid later if the customer can submit more documentation, he said.

Cory Fong, the state tax commissioner, said the volume of claims can be attributed in part to the newness of the refund program.

"We really have very little to compare it against," he said. "This is a start, so it's hard for me to say whether it's a small number or a large number."

Last year, the Legislature approved a law giving Indian customers the right to ask for state tax refunds for fuel they bought last year. It was a response to a lawsuit against the Tax Department over state fuel tax collections on North Dakota's Indian reservations.

In April, a state district judge ruled Indian customers could request tax refunds, with interest, going back to 1999, if they could present adequate documentation to the Tax Department. Schatz said Friday the agency has received only a few refund requests for taxes paid before 2005.

The refund procedure is similar to one already followed by agricultural and industrial customers who buy fuel for tractors, heavy equipment and other vehicles used off the road. Farmers and ranchers account for the biggest refund demand; through June, the Tax Department paid 7,229 agricultural claims, totaling more than $1.35 million.

One major sticking point for Indian refund claims is a requirement that applications certify that receipts list the state fuel tax as a separate amount.

When motorists anywhere in North Dakota fill up, their receipts - whether provided by the station, or at the pump itself - typically do not list the state tax separately. As a result, customers have to obtain letters from gas stations where they buy fuel, attesting that the tax is included in the pump price.

Ron His Horse Is Thunder, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, has suggested that Indian customers should be able to obtain refunds at the pump if they display a tribal identification card.

His Horse Is Thunder has also suggested that any Indian customer at a reservation gas station should be eligible for a refund, whether or not they are a tribal member.

That change would allow a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, for example, to get a fuel tax refund for gasoline bought on the Fort Berthold reservation.

Fong said the Tax Department would be willing to consider changes in how the refund is administered. However, the procedure has worked well for agricultural and industrial customers, he said.

"We have to take that into consideration too, if we are going to make changes because of this new category … whether or not it will be appropriate to also make changes to the refund process for other users," he said.