Niagara Falls could go broke without Seneca slots revenue

Niagara Falls could go broke if New York State’s casino dispute with the Seneca Nation of Indians isn’t resolved by the end of the year.

On Tuesday, the state Comptroller’s Office issued an audit indicating that the City of Niagara Falls will have exhausted its cash reserves by the end of 2017 if the Senecas don’t resume revenue-sharing payments from the slot machines at their Seneca Niagara Casino.

The Buffalo News quoted a letter sent to the comptrollers last week by Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who insisted the city has “adequate reserves in place to last over the course of this current dispute.” The city froze non-essential spending on July 1 and is studying what fat it might be able to cut from next year’s budget, just in case.

The Senecas, who operate three casinos in the state, halted all revenue-sharing payments in March based on their belief that there was nothing in their tribal gaming compact that required the payments to the state and the casino host communities to continue after the compact’s initial 14-year term expired at the end of 2016.