Governor vetoes host county bill

Cuomo worries that host county status could cause 2013 agreement to unravel

Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill on Friday that would have provided Madison County with shares in video gaming revenue generated within its borders.

In a message to the New York State Senate, Cuomo explained that as currently crafted, the bill, sponsored in the Senate by David Valesky D-53 and in the Assembly by Bill Magee D-121, “could compromise the multi-party compact that has been in place since 2013.”

The bill, which passed 59-1 in the Senate and 124-4 in the Assembly, would amend the State Finance Law and obligate the state to pay Madison County an additional 25-percent of the Nation Payment attributable to gaming devices in Madison County. This payment would be in addition to an annual $3.5 million payment that Madison County currently receives pursuant to the 2013 agreement, as well as the one-time $11 million payment that Madison County received when it signed the agreement.

The agreement Cuomo refers to is the 2013 settlement agreement between the state, the Oneida Indian Nation, Madison County, and Oneida County, that settled years of litigation over property tax, land and reservation issues.

However, at that time, there were no slots or casinos in the county, so Madison County opted for a lump sum payment of $11 million, plus a yearly payment of $3.5 million to make up for lost taxes.

Currently, Madison County is the only county that hosts a ca-

sino but does not receive a host community benefit. The payments are designed to offset costs associated with a casino, such as dealing with increased traffic, crime and social problems.

At last count, the OIN had 432 slots at the Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chit- tenango and 14 at the Canastota SavOn convenience store.

In September, Madison County officials, Valesky andMagee joined in a press conference urging the governor to sign the bill into law. At the time, Madison County Chairman of the Board of Supervisors John Becker said, “There was no gaming in Madison County when the settlement agreement was negotiated and adopted in 2013, and the possibility of such future gaming was never discussed or contemplated.”

Oneida County officials say Madison County should have sought host county status at the time the 2013 settlement agreement was being negotiated.

On Saturday, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente gave his take on the governor’s decision.

“I’m pleased to see the governor uphold an agreement all four parties, in- cluding theMadison County Government, agreed to and signed which was then ratified by the New York State Legislature and upheld by a federal judge,” Picente said. “Madison County chose revenue sharing based on a fix rate and gave up very little to get it. Oneida County became true partners with the Oneida’s and continue to honor the agreement as it was signed. The governor’s veto acknowledged that Madison County is only 1 party to this unique settlement agreement and any attempt to change it requires all four parties at the table.“

While Cuomo vetoed the bill, that does not mean the issued is resolved as the Senate and Assembly can move to override the veto, with a two-thirds majority in each house.

However, the governor also acknowledged the impact of gaming devices located within Madison County.

“I recognize that Madison County is impacted by gaming devices located within its borders,” Cuomo said. “Therefore, I am instructing the director of the Division of the Budget to communicate with the sponsors of this bill to review and explore a revenue sharing formula that would provide Madison County with an appropriate portion of the revenue generated from such gaming devices.”