The Buffalo Creek Casino
The small aircraft hanger that passes for a casino in Buffalo’s cobblestone district has shat out its first single-digit percentage payout from slot revenue that goes to the host community.
Buffalo’s the host community, right?
Or is it the great County of Erie?
Or both?
The payout is $700,000 whole, entire dollars. That buys less than 7,000 barrels of light crude. Or something.
In any event, as the Buffalo News indicates, this is going to be a battle:
The money will be staying in Albany for the foreseeable future because the city and county cannot agree on a formula to split it up.
City Hall and County Hall have staked conflicting claims on the revenues, a pot of money from slot machines that’s expected to swell to as much as $7 million annually when the permanent Buffalo casino opens in 2010.
“There’s no question in my mind that the city should get 100 percent of those revenues,” said Mayor Byron W. Brown, who makes a case for the state-mandated “host community” share to flow entirely to Buffalo.
“The casino is located in Buffalo. The city provides all the police support services and infrastructure,” Brown said. “The intent of the 2002 gaming compact between the Seneca Nation and New York State was to aid weak communities, like Buffalo, with those casino revenues.”
But County Executive Chris Collins is equally adamant about spliting the payments right down the middle.
“I’m still thinking a 50/50 split between the city and county is the right formula,” Collins said.
While the casino is situated in Buffalo, it’s a regional asset, the county executive said.
Fighting over crumbs. What a crap deal this was, and all the politicians who were associated with its negotiation should be ashamed. Ceding territory to a foreign entity in the middle of Buffalo? Taking an entire swath of land off the property tax roll in order to get a tiny percentage of slot revenue (and slot revenue only - not tables). They should have held a referendum and let the people decide whether they wanted this. Or better yet, they could have proposed lifting the idiotic, hypocritical ban on Class III Casino Gaming through New York’s constitutional process. We have casino gaming at racetracks, and we have the lottery, and we have Keno, and we have all sorts of manifestations of gambling that to ban proper casino gambling has become just silly.
The thing is - all of this was predictable and I predicted it. Niagara Falls and Niagara County underwent the same nonsense when the first casino cash made its way down the pipeline, and ne’er-do-well Mayor Anello threatened to lead a picket over it.
I think that the intent was for the city to be the “host community” and to reap the entire benefit of the casino. The county is overreaching here and should take a step back.
Russell Says:June 12th, 2008 at 11:26 am
How much was the city getting in taxes for that property before the hanger went up? $700,000 sounds like a pretty good sum of money for one year and the expectaion of that ballooning to $7,000,000 seems very nice. That does not seem like crumbs to me. That comes out to about 1% to 1.5% of the annual city budget. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
wcp Says:June 12th, 2008 at 11:44 am
achooo!
Mr. Pink Says:June 12th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Erie County should look at the Niagara County deal. The city got 90 plus percent, but had to spend some of it on some significant things that should benefit the whole region. The city vs. county argument misses the point. The local share was meant to be used to invest in other projects that produced wealth, not gobbled up into the great morass of local government.
Give it to the city, let them keep a percentage for cost incurred and then build a community consensus on how to spend the rest.
Chris Smith Says:June 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I think Mayor Brown should take the whole amount down to the casino and bet on red in Roulette. double our money!
STEEL Says:June 12th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
The city should get 90% and they should spend it all every year in making this part of the city a major destination. They should spend the remaining 10% lobbying Albany to change the allotment so that a full 100% comes back to the community and NONE to NYS.
Collins should be ashamed of himself. If there is any entity he is going to battle it should be Albany. The shear ridiculousness of setting up a Casino under the guise of helping a financially struggling area and then sucking a vast majority of the proceeds out of that community into state coffers is only laughable in a sad way.
dougk Says:June 12th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
jeeze…”money will be staying in albany for the foreseeable future because the city and county cannot agree on a formula to split it up”, betcha’ shelly and joey ‘b’ will discover a workable formula to keep the dough in albany…just sayin’
Master Caution Says:June 12th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
$700,000…$7 million…it’s all sneeze-able when you consider what we’ve given up to get it. If we ever get the money back, it should be spent to develop public transportation and a sustainable food infrastructure, but it probably won’t go anywhere past paving the roads or cleaning the park. Not that those are bad things, but we have bigger problems.
vivian Says:June 12th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Yeah, look what the city gave up. Nine acres of gravel parking lots and a dilapitated grain elevator. And all Buffalo gets Back in return is $7 million a year and about a thousand permanent jobs to start.
Russell Says:June 12th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Master Caution, tell us what you mean. What did Buffalo give up that makes a return equivalent to 1% to 1.5% of its annual budget look like crumbs or a sneezing matter?
Russell Says:June 12th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
And while you’re at it, what do you mean by a sustainable food infrastructure and how is this the responsibility/jurisdiction of the City of Buffalo?
Colin Says:June 12th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Whatever money the city ends up getting from slot profits was originally put into the slot machines by people from Buffalo. The result is that we get to keep a small percentage of our own money, while a much larger percentage heads to Albany. Unless numbers of people are going to travel here to gamble — and why would they? — this project is designed to separate us from our money and send it down the 90 East.
eliz Says:June 12th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I find it hard to believe that a crappy casino frequented by the poor and desperate of WNY and where all the profits go to a separate country–oh right, and Albany–would be considered a win by anyone. It has also been shown that casinos like this (or, to a much greater extent, much nicer ones), run by a separate entity and allowing smoking, hurt nearby bars and restaurants,
Check out Niagara Falls, NY. I drive up there every week–the casino has been in place 7 years and I think the the one new business (other than the casino) is a pawn shop on Pine Avenue. It is a very nice pawn shop.
Mike Walsh Says:June 13th, 2008 at 12:08 am
And how many mom and pop businesses are being squeezed by this casino?
Everything that’s illegal at Joes’s Bar and Grill is legal there.
How many people are gonna stand outside some city corner ginmill and smoke in january when they can go to the casino? And, there goes the football pool money, too.
Master Caution Says:June 13th, 2008 at 2:42 am
It’s only a good investment if the city actually gets a return that ends up being 1-1.5%. That remains to be seen. (And how much has the city already invested in terms of municpal funds for consulting or legal or building costs to shoehorn this thing in there?) Also, the majority of that return money would be coming from the people of the very city the return is supposed to benefit. So who really wins one this deal? The Seneca Nation, and maybe they should, but let’s not pretend this is going to be a golden mark in the city’s history.
Even in that scenario of a 1-1.5% return, the city gave up plenty of good space that, while it wasn’t being used for anything at the time, could have been used for something better. True, downtown Buffalo isn’t populated the way it once was, but there are people living here and they are in sore need of an affordable grocery store in close range to their home. Or how about mixed-use commercial/residential space? An extension of the work going on at the waterfront? A post-office. A community farm. A train station. Balloon shop. Playpus hatchery. Just because there’s nothing there doesn’t mean there’s a casino-shaped hole in the puzzle of the urban landscape.
What I mean by sustainable food infrastructure is something like the (serious) ideas I suggested for the space. A community farm would ensure that urban Buffalo isn’t too disconnected from where its food is grown. A train station would allow for more efficient transportation of food from farm to table. This city (and every city) is entering a period where cheap energy will no longer be available. Oil and natural gas prices aren’t going down, and alternatives will not support business as usual. We will have to live more locally, and we will have no choice. We will have to worry more and more about how to feed ourselves and keep a strong community through difficult times. Every step we take today towards long-term planning and away from immediate satisfaction will help us ride out what that future will present to us. Other communities, even larger ones than Buffalo, have already begun this process (see Portland, San Francisco, the state of Minnesota, Hamilton, ON, etc.). Still other cities like L.A. or Phoenix face much larger (perhaps insurmountable) difficulties in an era of scarce and expensive resources. Buffalo can and must begin to act intelligently to provide for its future. You can’t eat poker chips.
Russell Says:June 13th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Master Caution, you’re quite a dreamer. There’s no way any of those things would have ever opened there. That land was available for a long time. No grocery store or other business entity was ever interested and in order to get one to open anywhere in the city also takes a whole lot of money and convincing from the city.
Your thoughts about sustainable food infrastructure have nothing to do with the casino other than you thought the land would be nice for that. This city has ample space. This was not the only plot of land anything could have been built on. We’re not losing out on an entire universe of possibilities because the casino went there. That’s a huge stretch you’re making to try to put down the casino.
I don’t see any evidence that any city business has been devastated by this casino. I also haven’t heard of any great increase in suicides or bankruptcies or other problems people claimed would result from this casino opening. What I do see is a check that politicians are fighting over and an expectation that over the next few years it will rise to an increase in the city’s revenues of about 1.5% annually. I don’t think the city’s costs are anywhere close to that, even factoring in your lost dream of a community farm.
Chris Smith Says:June 13th, 2008 at 10:35 am
http://queencityfarm.org/
Here’s your urban farm and it’s close to a reality
Russell Says:June 13th, 2008 at 10:52 am
So there you go. The casino did not dash these hopes.
Master Caution Says:June 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
The Queen City Farm is an excellent use of space, but it’s 2.25 acres. We’re going to need more city farms, but either way my point was that the casino is not a responsible long-term investment. At best it’s quick cash in the short term until either: a) the whole thing tanks and the Senecas decide it isn’t worth the overhead, creating another massive paperweight in a city full of them, or b) the Senecas make a handsome profit off the people of the city and give us some of it but not enough to really make a difference in the city’s woes, while adding to them the drag of gambling loss and addiction. My question for you is, what leads you to believe this will go as smoothly and successfully as you clearly think it will? The fact that $700,000 of someone’s money is now sitting in Albany? The city of Niagara Falls, US? The city of Niagara Falls, Canada - which, while certainly better off than its American counterpart is not quite as rosy as it seems? Talk to small business owners - or what’s left of them - in Niagara Falls, Canada about the effect of the casinos on their livelihood. Drive past the Hill and talk to some of the people who run bars and restaurants near and on Lundy’s Lane. They’ll tell you the small businesses were squeezed out and the casino money doesn’t stay in town. They’ll tell you the casinos bring employees from other regions so the casinos’ payroll doesn’t even get spent in the local economy. This was never a well-thought out idea and putting an optimistic spin on it because of “the promise” of $7 million may be comforting, but you can’t shine s–t.
Russell Says:June 13th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Clifton Hill is a completely different place today than it was 15 or 20 years ago. The small businesses that were there were not exactly the kind a city bases it’s revitalization around. I do not see any evidence that the Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont. hurt that area in any way. Since it has opened it looks like many businesses have followed suit including international chains that had never before thought of opening in this region.
Niagara Falls, NY has many more problems than any casino can fix and again I do not see any deterioration that can be blamed directly on the casino. That city has been heading downhill since the late 1970s and that has not changed, good or bad, because of the casino. Sure, it hasn’t save the city, but it’s going to take a lot more than one new business to turn things around there.
I think the prospect of the City of Buffalo increasing its revenues 1.5% annually is a good thing that can be used to benefit the city and region in a number of ways. Again, I see no direct link between this casino doing millions in business over the past year and any business in the city being shuttered as a result. More businesses closed in the first year of the Walden Galleria opening than in the first year of this casino and I am confident that trend will continue. And as I said before, I have not seen any appreciable increase in bankruptcies, suicides or any other symptoms of the “drag of gambling loss and addiction.” I don’t see it anywhere in the Niagara region since any of these casinos have opened. In fact, we’re behind the national average and trends in those calamities.
Municipalities having more revenue without much expense other than upfront, one time infrastructure costs is not a bad deal. This city would be in great shape if we could get a similar deal out of Bass Pro or any other business entity we can finally convince to open in that area. Those businesses, though, are going to cost the city a whole lot more with much less promised in return.
Buffalopundit Says:June 13th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
The difference is that the Ontario government owns the casinos in Niagara Falls, ON. All of the profits = provincial revenue, and they were at least partially designed to add to the already comparably more vibrant tourism scene on the Canadian side of the Falls. By contrast, the Indian casino on the New York side is a sovereign exclave of the Seneca Nation, and the state gets 25% of slot revenue, while the “host community” gets 25% of that. The Seneca casino is designed to get people in and keep them there. There has been scant additional growth of tourism services or infrastructure in the wake of that casino going in, and isn’t marketed - as Ontario’s are - in conjunction with the Falls.
It’s all a big clusterfuck on the New York side because, as usual, turf protection trumps all.
Master Caution Says:June 13th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
You don’t see any evidence, but again: go to the local business owners. Leave Cllifton Hill for a minute (and all those civic-minded national chains) and talk to the small-scale business and entertainment providers in the area and see what their take is on the value of casino development. Talk to the owners that aren’t there anymore because their business went to the casinos.
Yes, increased city revenue is a good thing. And no, I can’t provide you with an example of a business that’s been hurt by the casino as it now operates. That said, a lot remains to be seen. Will the revenue be there? How long will it take to actually build the thing and will it cost the city? How many businesses, civic traditions, and community members will be adversely affected once this thing actually goes live? The Bass Pro deal is worse, but it doesn’t mean the casino will be a great deal for the city.
The thing is, we don’t have time for this kind of debate. We don’t have time for casinos or Bass Pros. The city faces much larger problems looming on the horizon, problems of energy scarcity and expense, food production and distribution, and the creation of a viable, sustainable city in the post-fossil fuel age. Those one-time infrastructure costs are investments in a city that can last for years and generations to come. The sooner we get our priorities straight and begin looking beyond the next fiscal year, the better off we’ll all be.
mike hudson Says:June 13th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
of course the “host community” is the city. unless the county starts sending byron tax money derived from business in clarence, amherst and cheektowaga, they don’t even have an argument.
the primary concession made by the city of niagara falls, under the final deal hammered out by state sen. george maziarz, was to earmark a couple of million a year — and i mean a couple, like two, maybe three — for projects that may not lie withing the city limits of niagara falls, but which will benefit the community greatly. hence, after 20 years of the nfta dicking around at niagara falls international airport, the facility is getting a new terminal.
Master Caution Says:June 14th, 2008 at 2:48 am
And look at the airline numbers. Once again, projects coming on line just as the reason for them fades.
mike hudson Says:June 14th, 2008 at 5:21 am
the reason fades? i’m still sick of having to cross grand island every time i want to get away from this popcorn stand.
TheRover Says:June 14th, 2008 at 11:12 am
If memory serves me right when I worked at 85 Michigan Ave from ‘98 to ‘01 there were only TWO tax paying entities on the current casino site and one was being forced to move from that site by its franchisor. That site was never going to be developed into anything else ever! We lost nothing letting the Senecas PURCHASE it. Maybe the city should get a bigger share of revenue but admit it, Albany had to OK the deal and wouldn’t have OK’ed it without getting a big chunk for themselves. The county has no claim here. But whenever there is a loose dollar blowing down the street every politician crawls out of his or her rathole and pounces on it.
$700,000 also buys 700,000 items at the Dollar Store. It’s all relative.
And….a balloon store? Puuleeeeezzzz, someone ban that guy from posting!
Master Caution Says:June 14th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Mike, I meant NF gets a new terminal as airlines put up their worst numbers in years, many of which will probably go bankrupt from the cost of fuel.
TheRover: I can appreciate the fact that you worked on Michigan for 3 years, but don’t you think that’s a small window of time from which to derive that the city was “never” going to be developed into anything else - especially considering that there were, in fact, two “tax-paying entities” on the property?
mike hudson Says:June 14th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
i know what you meant.
mike Says:June 14th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
So far the money got a new sign at the niagara falls airport, the parking lot is still the size of a wilson farms. Mike you are sounding like an old man, whats next you gonna be afraid of the skyway?
TheRover Says:June 15th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
MC, No I don’t think 3 yrs is too little time to make that observation because in the ten years since I have not seen anything come out of Albany that will help make the City of Buffalo more economically competitive. We continue to go backward. The conditions that drove business from that site still exist and threaten to turn other more prosperous areas of the city into vacant lots. Main St looks like downtown Bagdad. Your focus on food and energy may be noble but reversing the population drain, which will require easing the burden on small start-up business, which will require massive tax and spending cuts at the state level, which will require installing a spine in every elected official in NYS (through elections), which will require somehow getting those elected officials to stop rigging their districts guarrenting their re election. Get all that done and then maybe there will be some people around here left to buy food and energy.
TheRover Says:June 15th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Also MC, I was refering to the casino “site” not the city as a whole. And 2 tax paying entities that remained vs everthing that was once there is not a trend that looks positive.