Seneca Nation Treasurer Rickey Armstrong Sr. said withhold $800 million in an ongoing casino revenue-sharing dispute until a final determination is handed down by the federal government, according to Olean Times Herald.
“I support the recent action by the Nation’s Council to hold all payments to the state pending the outcome of the review by the National Indian Gaming Commission,” Armstrong said in a statement. “The NIGC must clarify the question on the legality of the payments.”
He said Seneca leaders are “urging the commission to conduct an expeditious review and issue a final determination to bring this matter to a close.”
Armstrong said the Seneca people should be assured that he will not authorize the release of any of the disputed funds until all lawful federal remedies have been exhausted. The Seneca Nation Council passed a resolution which required a review and final determination by the NIGC on whether additional revenue-sharing payments to New York state are lawful under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Seneca President Matthew Pagels and New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a settlement agreement January 12 to end the five-year Class III gaming compact payment dispute.
Marie E. Williams, former executive director of the Seneca Gaming Authority, also filed a challenge earlier this month of the legality of the agreement in Seneca Nation Courts. Williams’ legal filing is focused on the “assessed costs” that go beyond the provisions of the compact and illegal payments that she says Pagels buried in the agreement.
The proposed settlement with the state would have ended the gaming compact dispute, pledging to release the approximately $540 million of disputed payments held in escrow and another projected $265 million through 2023. Portions of the money would go to the city and school district of Salamanca, as well as Cattaraugus County.
In 2016, Nation officials made the decision to stop paying the state because the terms of the seven-year compact extension were silent on further payments. The Interior Department has twice written that it agrees with this interpretation, including the Biden-Haaland Administration, as recently as April 2021.
Further, a 2021 letter from Assistant Secretary of the Interior Bryan Newland expressed “serious concern” that further payments to the State may violate IGRA.
