Upping the ante in Sullivan

Money for schools and infrastructure sought

By DAVID HULSE

ALBANY, NY — As casino negotiations between county and state officials began early last week, one area supervisor held out high hopes for what might be accomplished.

Based on his earlier discussions with county officials, Lumberland Supervisor John LiGreci said he anticipated that, in part, county officials would press for a complete state takeover of Sullivan County school financing “for as long as the casinos are in operation.

“If the state wants the billion in revenues they’re expecting from five casinos, they will have to come up with $100 million for our schools,” he said, adding, “If they don’t, there’s only going to be three casinos.

Based on the January 6 remarks of Governor Pataki’s advisor Greg Allen, the county is in an unusually strong position to seek terms. Allen told the legislators that the enthusiastic support of all players in the state would be necessary to see the treaty land settlements, which provide the basis for the casinos, through the Congress.

Legislative Chair Chris Cunningham, vice-chair Jonathan Rouis and Minority Leader Rodney Gaebel met with Pataki administration officials on January 24.

Following the meeting, Gaebel said the county provided a list of concerns and education costs were high on the list.

Undecided Legislators Jodi Goodman and Leni Binder both had placed education aid as primary issues that they wanted resolved before any vote was taken in the county.

Without detailing the character of their talks, Gaebel said, “I think we all know that we’re only going to get one chance to do this.”

In addition to education, Gaebel said the county is also talking about state funding for infrastructure and the cooperation of state agencies. “Route 17 is going to get the bulk of the traffic from these casinos and the New York Department of Transportation has just announced that they are going to delay the needed upgrades to become I-86. We know they’re getting federal money to do this work, but they’ve decided to spend it somewhere else,” he said.

Gaebel said the county will also press to refine the “trust lands,” which will be ceded to the various tribes for construction. “We don’t want 75 or 100 acres off the tax rolls. We want an agreement similar to the Empire Zone, where only a building footprint is eligible for the tax benefits,” he said.

The county will also press for an exclusivity clause in a state agreement. “If they’re going to build five here, we don’t want the state authorizing one in Westchester or Rockland County,” which would draw off traffic from casinos further upstate in Sullivan.

Most importantly, the county wants to see a final draft of the state legislation endorsing the Pataki plan before the county endorses anything, Gaebel said.

If for no other reason than that, officials were skeptical that final language could be completed in Albany in time for a planned February 3, 1:00 p.m. special meeting of the county legislature, which was supposed to consider the Pataki plan.

Last Thursday, Gaebel said no further meetings with Pataki’s staff were scheduled, but he said that could quickly change.

The initial draft of law already included language requiring environmental impact studies with each casino project and the mandate for each tribe to complete host benefit agreements with Sullivan. The county already has two such agreements, for $15 million annual payments from the St. Regis Mohawks and the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans.

In addition to a state takeover of school taxes, LiGreci also anticipated that more than $30 million of the $75 million that five casinos would pay the county will go to the elimination of individual county property taxes.

In the state comptroller’s last survey of 2002 county property taxes, property owners were levied for a total of $154.6 million. Of that, approximately 75 percent went for school ($85.5 million) and county ($30.6 million) taxes.

If that kind of tax relief were included, “I could live with five casinos,” LiGreci said.