Indian Gaming > Loss of Seneca Nation casino revenue felt in local communities

Loss of Seneca Nation casino revenue felt in local communities

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Filed Under: Compacts | New York

Local communities are laying off employees and cutting budgets due to an ongoing gaming dispute between the Seneca Nation and the state of New York.

The tribe has withheld $228 million from the state, citing an expansion of non-Indian gaming. A big chunk of that money -- about $57.2 million -- would have gone to local governments.

"The New York State-Seneca relationship is killing us," Salamanca Mayor Jeffery Pond told The Buffalo news. The city has laid off 49 workers and reduced the police force in half because it hasn't received its share of gaming funds.

Since December 2002, the tribe has shared $471.4 million to the state. Of that amount, about $118 million went to the three communities that host casinos.

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