TGB Votes to Give Tribal Elders $200 Christmas Bonus in Addition to $750 Disbursement

By Joe Morey News Editor

At their weekly meeting on Monday, Nov. 18, the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board unanimously approved giving the LCO Tribal Elders their annual Christmas bonus of $200 in addition to the $750 tribal member disbursement. Although the $750 has to be picked up in person, the $200 will be mailed out to all tribal elders who do not pick it up.

LCO Tribal Chairman Louis Taylor said the $200 per elder is already in the Elder Services Budget, which was passed in late September, which means it wouldn’t be affected by the tribal wide disbursement.

LCO Secretary-Treasurer Bill Trepanier agreed and made the motion to give elders the additional bonus. It was seconded by Gary “Little Guy” Clause. This means Elders will receive both, the $750 disbursement and the $200 Christmas bonus.

Last year, the annual elder bonus was included in the Christmas bonus of $300 that was mailed out to all tribal members. Discussion was held between TGB members that having their bonus included in this years’ bonus of $750 would deeply impact tribal elders because the checks were not being mailed.

Announcement on when these checks will be available to elders will come soon. The checks will be distributed to all tribal members who have reached the age of 55 by December 31st of this year.