BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Seneca Nation of Indians on Thursday filed a motion in U.S. District Court, asking a judge to vacate a recent arbitration panel ruling, which came down in favor of the state of New York regarding a simmering dispute over revenue from Seneca-owned casinos in Western New York.
After losing the arbitration, the Senecas appealed to the U.S. Department of the Interior for a review of the arbitration panel’s findings.
However, according to sources, the Senecas were informed by the Department of the Interior on Wednesday it had yet to take up the review because it preferred the request to be made jointly by the Seneca and The State of New York.
“This action by the Department of Interior unfortunately fails to resolve the ongoing disagreement between the State of New York and the Seneca Nation. Without federal review, the amendment crafted by the arbitration panel remains unenforceable,” President Rickey L. Armstrong, Sr. said in a statement.
Finding it highly unlikely the state would asked the federal government to review a ruling that favored the state’s position, the Senecas went to court instead.
Their motion asks for a judge to vacate the arbitration ruling, or in the alternative, seeks a declaration to delay enforcement of the arbitration ruling until such time as the Secretary of the Department of the Interior rules on the matter.
The arbitration panel determined the Senecas owed the state roughly a quarter million dollars in lapsed payments, but the Seneca have yet to pay…leaving municipalities like Niagara Falls, Buffalo, and Salamanca unpaid through their revenue sharing agreements with the state.
“Unfortunately, unless the Governor is willing to sit down with the Seneca Nation leadership to negotiate a mutually agreeable resolution that we could submit to the Department of Interior together, I am concerned that this litigation will continue for the foreseeable future, leaving the Seneca Nation and the local governments who benefit," Armstrong said.