Four California tribes, including the Cabazon Indians in Indio, have prevailed against the state in an eight-year court fight over their bid to receive $14 million in licensing fees generated from off-track betting.

The victory came Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn a lower-court ruling requiring California to refund the money to the tribes.

The court also refused to hear arguments from off-track wagering interests and horse racing associations that intervened in the case.

Cabazon tribal attorney Glenn Feldman hailed the outcome, saying it supported the original arguments of the tribes involved.

"Under federal law, states are not authorized to tax activities on tribal lands," Feldman said. "The Supreme Court has upheld that position today."

The state had argued it was imposing the tax against the tracks, not the tribes. A federal judge agreed with that contention in 1992, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision.

Deputy Attorney General Manuel M. Medeiros said the result is that the tribes will enjoy more than three times the profits of other off-track facilities on horse-racing bets.

The tribes will continue to collect a 2 percent takeout -- the same as non-Indian off-track sites in California -- plus the 3.5 percent that has been collected by the state as a licensing fee, Medeiros said.

The state also unsuccessfully argued that the off-track wagering compacts with the four tribes were void because of their continued operation of video slot machines without a compact. The court disagreed.

The Cabazon Indians and three other tribes signed a compact in 1990 permitting live broadcasting of horse racing from tracks in California to off-track betting facilities on their reservations.

Though the two sides could not agree whether the state had the right to collect taxes on the wagers, the compact allowed the tribes to sue to resolve the dispute.

The Cabazon tribe, which operates the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio in eastern Riverside County, is expected to receive more than $3 million from the $14 million that the state has collected since 1990. . The three San Diego County tribes involved in the case are the Viejas Band of Mission Indians in Alpine, the Barona Band of Mission Indians in Lakeside and the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians in El Cajon.

The four tribes expect to save about $2 million annually in future taxes because of the ruling. The Cabazons' share would be about $300,000.

The Cabazon and Sycuan tribes sued the state in 1990, and the other two tribes agreed to be bound by the outcome. Under terms of the original compact, which has no expiration date, they are to receive their respective shares of the licensing fees within 60 days of the ruling, Feldman said. The four tribes also expect to save about $2 million a year in future taxes because the ruling bars the state from collecting any more taxes from the off-track betting.

The state cannot discontinue the compact.

The case does not affect the current court battles over the fate of video slot machines in more than 35 tribal casinos in California, including nine in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Published 6/16/1998