NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — With the Seneca Nation of Indians now going to court to appeal an arbitration loss to New York State over disputed casino revenue, it appears this will only further delay cities which host casinos from getting their cut of the money.
The most impacted of those is Niagara Falls, which is owed tens of millions of dollars through its revenue sharing agreement with the state under the casino compact, and whose City Comptroller has warned could run out of money for operations in mid to late July unless a promised state bailout comes through.
On the minds of many is a pledge made last fall by Governor Andrew Cuomo to loan the city up to $12.3 million in anticipated casino revenue if the dispute lingered into 2019.
Now that it has, with no clear end in sight, no one has seen the money.
Help is on the Way?
In a statement issued Friday, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster wrote:
“As I have done in the past, I continue to offer my good offices to assist in brokering any dialogue necessary and look forward to working with all parties to reach a solution in the best interest of the City of Niagara Falls. In the meantime, my office has been in discussions with the Division of the Budget to activate spin up revenues announced last fall, an announcement on details is expected in the coming weeks.”
Seeking further information, 2 On Your Side contacted the New York State Division to see when the money might be forthcoming.
Its spokesperson Freeman Klopott, e-mailed a statement saying,
“The State is in contact with the Niagara Falls Mayor, and our commitment to the city remains firm as we wait for the Seneca Nation to fulfill its obligation as determined by the arbitration panel.”
Tired of Double Talk
“That’s a lot of moving around the subject and not giving you a direct answer," said Niagara Falls City Councilman Kenny Tompkins, who has grown increasingly frustrated over the matter.
"They can say they are monitoring the situation and say they’re keeping in contact with each other all they want…how about send the check? Plain and simple. You promised us $12.3 million…give us the $12.3 million.”
“There’s a lot of frustration," said Niagara Falls City Councilman Ezra Scott, Junior. “This is ultimately impacting the quality of life for our residents."
Feeling the Pinch
Both Scott and Tompkins noted that grass on city-owned lots continues to grow three feet high, and street repair projects hoped for this summer have been put on hold, while half of the city’s police vehicles are out of service in need of repair, with no money to replace them.
“We can’t move forward with these things now because of the uncertainty of when we would be receiving these funds," Scott said.
The warning by the City Comptroller about the current financial state of affairs also has city employees hedging their bets, according to Tompkins.
“If you are a city employee looking to make a purchase or plan a vacation, you’re not sure what’s going to happen come July if you might not have a steady paycheck coming in,” Tompkins said.
Call for City to do Better
"I've had no request to get involved from anyone,” said New York State Assemblyman Angelo Morinello (R-145th District) when asked if he’s been approached to prod the state to send the money it pledged.
Morinello represents Niagara Falls in the Assembly.
While on the topic though, Morinello admonished the city for its past spending practices regarding casino revenue and beseeched it to change its pattern of using casino funds to plug annual budget gaps against the advice of the state comptroller.
“I’m not going to put this all on the Seneca,” Morinello told 2 On Your Side. “Since the casino began operating, the city has received nearly $250 million to spur economic development and fix its infrastructure. They only have about a million dollars left and you don’t see the kind of economic development that was intended.”
“This was a bonus,” said Morinello. “But you can’t put unallocated revenue which isn’t guaranteed to materialize in your budget. Niagara Falls has a spending problem.”