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The Little Shell Tribe will no longer receive more than $600,000 in expected federal stimulus funds.

The tribe was set to receive the money from the Montana Department of Commerce, but the agency suspended that award in December over concerns with the tribe's accounting practices.

Instead, about $417,000 of the total amount will go to the state's general fund to fulfill Governor Brian Schweitzer's request that state agencies cut costs by 5%.

The tribe had planned to use the money to renovate its Great Falls offices and build a new office in Havre.

Members may still be eligible for the remaining $200,000 if the tribe shows improvements in accounting procedures.

Governor Schweitzer explained, "The Little Shell Tribe has not been able to demonstrate they have the kind of governance and accounting principles that would shepherd the peoples' money and use it in the way it has been designated.

Little Shell chairman John Sinclair said, "You can't help but be disappointed when you lose that amount of money, especially when I think we could have really built some infrastructure for this tribe. We just have to go on and hopefully at some point the state can make that up to us, I hope."

The Commerce Department's recommendations must be approved by the Governor.

Without the money, Sinclair says they will not be able to build the Havre office, and renovations in Great Falls will be stalled.