A proposal to remove a 365-acre parcel—with an assessed value of $13 million—from Santa Barbara County’s property tax rolls and land-use jurisdiction raised some red flags for the Board of Supervisors.
In its Nov. 10 letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the board stated that it “does not intend to challenge” the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ recent application to place the San Carlos property into federal trust, before outlining the property tax revenue (approximately $142,000 annually) it would lose if approved.
By designating the land into federal trust, the tribe would gain sovereignty to govern it.
“The county deeply values its government-to-government relationship with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Over the past several years, the county, the tribe, and other local jurisdictions have worked side by side on projects that matter to everyone in the [Santa Ynez] Valley,” the letter stated. “That record of partnership rests on open communication. For that reason, we were disappointed to learn of this application first through a federal notice, rather than from the tribe directly.”
At the Board of Supervisors’ Nov. 10 meeting, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Tribal Chairman Kenneth Kahn said he agreed that the county “should have heard about the application directly from me first, and I take responsibility for that.”
“To address the timing of the federal notice, we expected to give the county a courtesy heads-up before the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” Kahn said. “But it went out sooner than we expected.”
Kahn told the board that the tribe is seeking to place the San Carlos property, which the tribe has owned since 2015, into federal trust for non-gaming purposes.
“I ask you to weigh our record alongside the concerns you raised, and to recognize our tribe’s right and ability to govern our lands responsibly,” Kahn said at the meeting. “We have no current development plans. We intend to continue grazing and hosting community events, including our annual Powwow and the Santa Ynez rodeo.”
After Kahn’s comments, 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann praised Kahn’s leadership as “tremendous.” She also requested that staff add a line to the board’s letter requesting that the tribe assign a designated liaison to communicate with the county in the future.
“I think that the tribe has contributed enormously to the community. … We are grateful,” Hartmann said. “I think what we’re struggling with right now is: What’s a process to continue the dialogue in a somewhat more formal way than my text messages to the chairman?”
She added that the lack of public comment—as no speakers for the item to finalize the board letter came forward—“spoke volumes” about community members’ trust in the tribe, compared to years of heated hearings tied to the Camp 4 property.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino agreed.
“I mean, honestly, if this was 10 years ago, this place would be packed with angry people,” Lavagnino said. “Many kudos for both the chairman and Supervisor Hartmann, her staff, and all the folks on the board for getting to a point where we do recognize their validity and working strongly in a government-to-government relationship.”
This article appears in November 12 – November 19, 2026.
