Casino news source: Wheeling News-Register - http://www.theintelligencer.net
Casino Changes Landscape
By JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH Assistant City Editor
Modest homes, many of which appear in need of repair, line the streets of Niagara Falls, N.Y., giving the city an appearance similar to that of many towns in the Ohio Valley where industrial jobs have become scarce.
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The shining blue exterior of the Niagara Seneca Casino and Hotel stretches into the sky over one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It has changed the landscape of this city, but it hasn’t had the economic impact many had anticipated.
Casino officials are quick to point out they have created thousands of jobs and often participate in initiatives to benefit charitable causes. In April, representatives from parent company Seneca Gaming Corp. joined area veterans in kicking off “Buffalo/Niagara to Baghdad.”
This project aims to produce a video featuring celebrities and local residents sending expressions of support to military personnel from Western New York who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also will raise funds to support the soldiers upon their return home.
Still, some residents and city leaders are disappointed the facility’s presence hasn’t spurred additional development. They also believe more of the dollars generated by the facility should be returned to the community.
Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center is asking residents in Ohio County to approve a referendum that would allow table gambling at the facility. Election day is June 9, but early voting started Friday with more than 340 people casting their ballots.
Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort has its vote set for June 30 in Hancock County.
Both tracks already have video slot machines and are promising hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in investment in their facilities if table gambling is approved.
Paul Morreale owns Third Street Liquors in Niagara Falls, a store close enough to the casino that the 26-story tower could cast a shadow across his door. Because of his proximity to the Seneca Niagara and the fact that he runs a niche business, his customer base has remained steady since the casino opened its first gambling floor in 2002.
But he claims the casino’s one-stop-shop design — with rooms, restaurants, a salon and many other amenities on site — deters visitors from patronizing restaurants, bars and shops in other parts of the city.
“Everybody wants to be in the casino,” Morreale said. “There’s nothing to do in this town.”
He also said that although the casino is profitable, those profits haven’t trickled down to the city or its residents.
“I expected more development, more spin-offs,” he said. “This is a small, depressed city. There are no jobs; the young people leave. Nobody wants to invest here.”
Morreale further is critical of the way the gambling establishment is regulated and exempted from a number of restrictions that apply to surrounding businesses. Because the facility is owned and operated by a corporation established by the Seneca Nation of Indians and is situated on tribal land, it is not subject to the 8-percent state tax on businesses nor to New York’s statewide ban on cigarette smoking.
He pointed out that casinos have been in operation just across the Niagara River in Canada since the 1990s. Those facilities are government-run, he said, and have contributed to improvements in infrastructure. He also credited the Canadian gambling sites for contributing to a population increase there and to what he referred to as a “booming economy.”
Indeed, the Canadian casinos are surrounded by hotels and a variety of attractions, from theaters to specialty shops, restaurants and more. While few cars were traveling around Niagara Falls, N.Y., one gloomy Wednesday afternoon in April, crowds braved the rain to walk from shop to bustling shop or to view the still-icy Canadian side of the Niagara Falls just across the border.
City Council Chairman Robert Anderson Jr. also “thought the casino would help more.” Anderson is a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and said there aren’t many casinos in the world that he hasn’t visited. The native of South Bronx, New York City, also said he watched as Atlantic City’s famous strip of casinos grew up along the coast. He said that development “did some good” for that city’s most depressed neighborhoods.
When the Seneca Niagara came to his community, Anderson said, he saw it as an opportunity to fix the streets and sidewalks of the decaying city. In September, the Seneca Nation presented New York state officials with more than $68 million as part of the state’s revenue share payment agreement. But Anderson said “politics” have kept that money from helping the city.
“The figures clearly show that our Class III casino operations have had a clear and unmistakable positive impact on the local economy,” Barry E. Snyder Sr., president of the Seneca Nation of Indians, said in a news release. “From the job opportunities we have created to the number of jobs that are supported by their operation, Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel and Seneca Allegany Casino (in Salamanca, N.Y.) are key components of what should be a foundation for economic growth in and around Western New York.”
According to the Gaming Compact signed Aug. 18, 2002, between the Seneca Nation and the state, the nation for the first four years of the compact will pay the state 18 percent of the “net drop” of the slot machines and table games — money dropped into the machines and spent on the games, after payout but before expense. The percentage paid to the state will grow to 25 percent over the potential 21-year life of the compact.
The first payment for 2003 totaled $38 million from just the Seneca Niagara Casino.
From the state’s share, the “host community” receives 25 percent. Given 2005 revenues from each casino, it was anticipated that Niagara Falls would receive $11.3 million.
But Anderson claims none of that money has gone toward improving infrastructure or attracting development to the city. “Our slice of the pie is so small they can keep it, as far as I’m concerned,” he said, adding that the city’s streets are in “deplorable” condition with buckled sidewalks and railroad tracks protruding from the pavement.
“You need a tube of Preparation H to go driving around in this town,” he said, referring to roadways he believes are too rough. He said the lack of solid infrastructure and dwindling population — down to about 55,000 in 2005 from more than 120,000 in the 1960s — are factors that discourage new businesses from coming to town.
“Not even a hotdog stand has opened in about four years,” he said.
The local tracks also are planning additional development at their facilities, as Wheeling Island already has announced a facility expansion if table gambling is approved and has discussed plans for an addition to its hotel, more than doubling its size.
Mountaineer also has expansion planned if table gambling is passed. Both tracks are looking to become more of a destination spot for visitors.
Legislation passed this year in West Virginia permits the state’s four racetracks to ask voters in their counties to approve table gambling at their facilities. If approved at Wheeling Island, table gambling is anticipated to bring at least an additional $250,000 to the city of Wheeling, in addition to money already brought by the slots operation. Host counties also are slated to get a share — perhaps $500,000 annually; and other municipalities in those counties could see as much as $50,000 in revenue.
Counties without racetracks also could benefit, receiving up to $90,000 a year; the state’s remaining 203 municipalities could get as much as $22,000 annually as a result of table gambling.
The racetracks’ gross revenue on table games would be taxed at 35 percent, and the tracks also would be required to pay an initial licensing fee of $1.5 million with annual renewal fees of $2.5 million.
Money from the licensing fees has been earmarked for in-home care to the Mountain State’s senior citizens. |
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