"Give me the revenue and nobody will get hurt"

County wants part of revenue from Ganienkeh slot machines
Officials push for revenue from Ganienkeh Territory gaming

PLATTSBURGH — Clinton County officials say it is time they get a cut of the revenue from slot machines on Ganienkeh Territory in Altona.

County Treasurer Joseph Giroux told legislators recently that the county should get part of the handle from the 110 slot machines they believe to be operating on properties at Ganienkeh Territory.

"We'd like to get part of the handle, and, if not, we'd like the state to have those machines removed," Giroux said.

STOLEN LAND

Ganienkeh Mohawks say they don't think so.

"When are we going to get some revenue for the lands they stole—" Ganienkeh spokesman Tom Delaronde, said, referring to ancestral claims that Native Americans were pushed off their lands by settlers hundreds of years ago.

AKWESASNE DEAL

Mohawks at Akwesasne, some 90 miles west of Altona, have had an agreement with the state and St. Lawrence and Franklin counties to share part of the revenue generated from nearly 2,000 slot machines on the reservation since 2004.

The pact calls for Mohawks to have exclusivity on gaming operations in seven counties: Franklin, Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Warren. The deal calls for the state, those counties and four towns — Bombay, Fort Covington, Brasher and Massena — to receive payments.

That agreement has come under scrutiny recently as Akwesasne Mohawks claim that by allowing the slot machines at Ganienkeh, the state violated the agreement.

Mohawks have since stopped paying the state its portion of the slot revenue but have continued to pay St. Lawrence and Franklin counties and the towns.

NOT INVOLVED

Delaronde said Ganienkeh Mohawks are not part of the Akwesasne tribal government and not involved with their dispute with the state.

"This is our land, our territory, it belongs to the people of the Mohawk Nation, and we will take care of our people," he said.

OFF-TERRITORY LAND

Giroux said the county is seeking slot revenue from the Ganienkeh slot machines in part because several properties in Altona off the Ganienkeh Territory have been purchased in recent years by Mohawks who have not paid taxes on the lands.

The Mohawks, Giroux explained, claimed the lands purchased were to be part of Ganienkeh, which was created in 1977 by an agreement with the state.

FORECLOSURES

The county foreclosed on nine parcels last year and regained title to the properties, including the new golf course off Rand Hill Road, but Mohawks continue to occupy the lands.

The county is also in the process of foreclosing on three more parcels.

The county has lost more than $200,000 in tax revenue from the disputed properties since the Mohawks purchased them.

"If we are not going to get revenue in taxes, then we should get it from the slots," Giroux said.

"Revenue is revenue."

BELONG TO MOHAWKS

Delaronde said the parcels in question belong to the Mohawks.

"This is not a one-person entity, it belongs to the people," he said.

Giroux said an agreement on slot revenue would also help the Mohawks, who aim to market their new golf course, which opened this past summer.

"They put a lot of money into that golf course; I am sure they want people to go to it."

Delaronde said the golf course is doing just fine.

STATE HELP

Giroux is asking legislators to approve a resolution formally asking the state for assistance in collecting revenue from the slot machines in Altona.

Legislators will vote on the resolution at Tuesday's meeting.

County Legislators Keith Defayette (R-Area 6, Schuyler Falls) and Jackie Walker (R-Area 8, City and Town of Plattsburgh) agreed with the idea of asking for some of the slot-machine revenue.

"We know it (slots) exists, they know it exists; we should ask for some of the handle," Defayette said.

Walker said it is not fair to other property owners who pay taxes to allow lands purchased by Ganienkeh Mohawks to go untaxed.

"The golf course is not paying taxes, and that's not fair either."