By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
SALAMANCA — A state advance to municipalities for future Seneca casino revenue sharing is like money in the bank for the City of Salamanca and Cattaraugus County.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office has announced nearly $17 million in advance payments to Western New York municipalities — including $3.5 million to Salamanca and Cattaraugus County governments.
It can’t come soon enough,” Salamanca Comptroller Robert Early said on Monday. “It’s about 45% of our budget.”
The city budget is “bare bones,” and it might have had to resort to layoffs if not for the advance on casino revenue, Early indicated.
Early said the city should get about $2.8 million of the $3.5 million state payment. When will the city receive it? “I’m working on that right now,” he said.
Cattaraugus County will receive the remainder, an amount that is supposed to offset the amount of county property tax lost on exempt Native American property in the city of Salamanca located on the Allegany Territory.
Cash flow problems caused by the lack of regular casino payments during the extension of the Seneca Gaming Compact with New York State caused Early to cash a couple of CDs earlier this year.
Early said he hasn’t calculated the exact amount the city and county will receive individually.
After reimbursing the city, county and school district for lost taxes, 90% of the remainder would go to the city and 10% to the county.
The state has twice extended the deadline for negotiating a new compact. The original 21-year gaming compact was due to expire Dec. 9, 2023.
On Friday, Cattaraugus County Administrator Jack Searles said the county hadn’t heard from the governor’s office yet about an advance on the casino funds. Last year, the county did not even budget for the casino revenue.
Searles said the county is currently preparing its 2025 county budget, but without more information, the casino revenue has not yet been added to the draft budget which will be released on Nov. 6.
“I have no information on the status of the negotiations” between the state and Senecas, Searles added.
