COLUMBIA, SC --- -- The Catawba Indian Nation has agreed to pay more than 93-hundred dollars to settle its audit dispute with the state.

In the settlement reached yesterday, the Catawbas agree to pay about 63-hundred dollars that a Revenue Department audit this year found is owed in taxes, penalty and interest for 2000 and 2001.

The tribe also agrees to pay three thousand dollars in fines for bookkeeping violations.

The agreement says the tribe does --not-- believe it underpaid taxes but agreed to settle the dispute to avoid more legal action.

The agreement says the tribe and state agency have resolved --not-- to make any public comment with respect to the underlying audit.

The Catawbas had appealed the Revenue Department's audit to state Administrative Law Judge Dukes Scott, who signed off on the agreement. Judge Scott was to hear the case next week.