Amid a flurry of words and legal accusations between the City of Buffalo and the Seneca Nation over a Seneca gas station project in the Old First Ward, the nation's president indicated yearslong negotiations with New York State for a new gaming compact is nearing completion.
"We negotiated an agreement in principle that, right now, contains no revenue sharing provision with New York State," said President J. Conrad Seneca. "We expect this agreement will be finalized and sent to the New York State Legislature sometime in the spring. That is the path New York and Governor [Kathy] Hochul chose."
BTPM News reached out to the governor's office for a statement on the compact, and a spokesperson said negotiations remain ongoing.
"State officials have been engaged in productive discussions with the Seneca Nation on a new gaming compact that would be fair for all parties. There is currently no agreement and conversations are ongoing with stakeholders," said the spokesperson. "Any public discussion of specific terms and details is premature. We will share further details on an agreement as the ongoing negotiations warrant."
Framework referenced by the nation's president would also have to go to its council for approval as well.
Some of those apparent details and terms presented by Seneca include the removal of revenue sharing payments to New York State, which trickle down to host communities of the nation's three casinos. Under the original 2002 compact, which expired in December 2023 but has received quarterly extensions, the Seneca Nation was required to share slot machine revenue with the state.
Seneca claimed he and his team tried to argue for direct payments to host communities.
"Throughout our prolonged negotiations, the Seneca Nation has consistently advocated to protect the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca to ensure that funding would continue to come to them under a new agreement," he said. "New York State told us that wasn't any of our business."
If Niagara Falls were to lose its annual share of around $10-13 million, Mayor Robert Restaino said that would leave the city with tough decisions to make.
"If you think about the fact that the city's budget is $100 million or so, and if you think about the fact that we have an amount in the budget [for casino revenue] that is almost 10%, you're thinking about a substantial gap to fill," Restaino told reporters Friday.
The mayor said he has not heard from Hochul's office about any news concerning compact negotiations.
In the 2002 agreement, the state was to provide an exclusivity on gaming devices in Western New York. But tensions soon arose once "video lottery terminals" were placed at horse tracks in Hamburg, Batavia and the Finger Lakes beginning in 2004, with the Senecas arguing that violated the value to their gaming operations the state pledged to provide in exchange for revenue sharing.
Numerous court cases and arbitration were waged over this. The state contended the video lottery terminal program was authorized before the compact was signed, that it was operated under the existing state lottery system, and a state court later ruled the machines were not slot machines or gambling devices under state law.
The 2002 compact explicitly defined video lottery terminals as gambling devices and subject to the exclusivity clause, leading to the constant friction between the Seneca Nation and New York State.
"The Seneca Nation was willing to discuss a fair revenue share agreement as a part of a new compact, but New York was unwilling to provide us any market protections or opportunities to grow and generate more revenue for us and for the local community," President Seneca said of the more recent negotiations. "Instead, Governor Hochul just wanted to keep taking advantage of the Seneca Nation and taking money the state isn't entitled to."
Revenue sharing under the expired 2002 compact continues to be placed in an escrow account, nation officials previously confirmed.
While the governor's office provided BTPM News a statement related to gaming compact negotiations, it did not respond to questions about Hochul's stance or potential involvement in the gas station land dispute in Buffalo.
