Seneca Nation stops casino payments

The tribe is still in dispute with New York state over the payments that casinos make to host cities.

US.- The next payment due by the end of this month is in jeopardy as New York and the Seneca Nation of Indians are yet to find a solution regarding the revenue that casinos pay to the host cities. The decision to stop the monthly payments was announced earlier this year.

News outlet New York Upstate reported that whilst the state is still trying to come up with alternatives, there is still no resolution at the end of the tunnel. The tribe has shared more than US$1.5 billion over the last few years, and the decision to stop all casino payments to the state seems like a stone along the way for Albany, which receives approximately US$110 million a year and distributes the money to host communities. According to tribe officials, they’re acting upon the terms of the compact that they signed in 2012, which established that they had to share 25 percent of the slot machine revenues from the three casinos.

Lee Park, spokesman for the New York State Gaming Commission, said that whilst discussions are ongoing, the state has made its position clear that payments are required to continue. “Nothing more we can add at this time,” he said. The news outlet also said that the Seneca Nation commented that they’re keeping their position on the subject, as they believe that they also have nothing to add to the subject.

Todd Gates, President of the Seneca Nation, said back in March that the compact is very explicit when it says that after the fourteenth year they have the right to stop payments, and that the state should’ve seen it coming since it’s been fifteen years.