ALBANY - No dice.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the struggling del Lago casino in the Finger Lakes will have to go boom or bust on its own as the owners lobby for a state bailout.
"The upstate gaming casinos are private concerns," Cuomo told reporters.
"They bid, they made an investment and some of them will say they are not doing as well as they hoped or would have expected. But they’re private concerns, and I don’t want to get into the business of bailing out private concerns."
The casino's owner, Thomas Wilmot, on Monday was at the state Capitol and told USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau that he was seeking state help because of less-than-expected revenue in del Lago's first year of operation.
"I think we need some help at this point, and what the future holds, time will tell," Wilmot said.
Who's to blame?
A del Lago spokesman later blamed the Seneca Nation of Indians for withholding taxes to the state and using the money to bolster incentives to gamblers — hurting del Lago's bottomline.
But a number of lawmakers have since blasted del Lago's request of state aid, which appears to be for a lower tax rate.
Critics said del Lago won a state bid in 2014 for the Tyre, Seneca County, casino based on what now appear to have been rosy projections.
Cuomo offered a similar stance, saying the casinos brought economic development to the state but ultimately must stand on their own.
"We did casino gaming to create facilities, generate economic development, create jobs — and it has done that," Cuomo continued.
He added, "So to the extent you have a casino saying, ‘Well, You know what? I’m not meeting my expectations. I should get help from the state.’"
"I’m not sympathetic to that."
Talks continue
Del Lago continues to talk with the governor's office and state lawmakers to reach a compromise, said Steven Greenberg, the casino's spokesman.
He contended the problem is the Senecas last year stopped paying taxes to the state on its casino revenue -- which is the state is fighting -- and is now offering better incentives to gamblers to visit its casinos in Niagara Falls and Buffalo.
Greenberg called it a "bait and switch" by the Senecas to draw customers away from del Lago, making the new casino's situation "untenable."
"From the time del Lago opened, the Seneca Nation went from paying 25 percent to zero," Greenberg said.
"So they pay zero on their slot machines, and del Lago pays 37.5 percent. So the landscape completely changed."
The Senecas on Monday disputed del Lago's stance, saying del Lago is suffering from its own poor projections.
Moving forward
The $440 million casino was a surprise pick to win a state gaming license from a state siting board and has since entered a competitive gaming market.
Three Seneca Nation casinos in the Buffalo area and two racetracks with video-lottery terminals are to the west, while the Oneidas now run three casinos to the east.
So del Lago ended its first year at about $147 million in revenue — about 44 percent lower than projections.
That was the largest discrepancy between projections and actual revenue among the three upstate casinos that opened a year ago, the Albany Bureau reported last month.
Moody's Investors Service in January warned that del Lago may struggle to pay off its debt at the current rate.
It warned "without a substantial improvement in revenue, del Lago will not be able to achieve a level of performance that can support its existing debt capital structure."
Wilmot said Monday, "We’re paying the bills." But he added, "Long term, it isn’t going to be sustainable without some help."
The state has come to the aid of other gambling facilities in New York in recent years, including for Vernon Downs and Finger Lakes Racetrack.
But some state lawmakers said del Lago should expect help after just one year in business.
Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer, R-Amherst, Erie County, wrote a letter to Cuomo on Wednesday that said his understanding is Lago was seeking $14 million in tax breaks.
"They have received many benefits from state and local governments, and enough is enough," he wrote. "I believe that bailing out this casino with people’s hard-earned dollars is simply inappropriate and wrong."
JSpector@Gannett.com
Includes reporting by Albany Bureau staff writer Jon Campbell.
