Why a casino in Onondaga County isn't in the cards

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Why a casino in Onondaga County isn't in the cards

Casinos are popping up all over New York state, and their locations are getting closer and closer to Onondaga County.

Yellow Brick Road is a mile from the eastern Onondaga County line, and the new Point Place Casino in Bridgeport is a few hundred feet from the Onondaga County line in Cicero.

So why not open a casino in Syracuse - or somewhere right in Onondaga County, home of 468,000 people? Wouldn't such a casino be even more successful, draw more tourism and business to the region?

It might, said Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, but with Yellow Brick Road, Point Place and Del Lago (Tyre, Seneca County) nearby, it would likely be less of a revenue generator than it would have been previously, she said.

Mahoney said she doesn't see a casino in Onondaga County's future - nor is there a push for one, she said.

"We have the best of both worlds right now,'' she said. "The county Legislature doesn't want to be in the gambling business, but we still get a share of the money from the (Oneida Nation) casinos."

The Oneida Nation Sunday announced plans to build a new 65,000-square-foot Point Place casino in Bridgeport, a casino similar to the Oneida Nation's Yellow Brick Casino in Chittenango. The Oneida Nation also operates Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona.

The Yellow Brick Road Casino at 800 W. Genesee St. The Wizard of Oz-themed casino opened in June of 2015. Kathe Harrington | Special to newyorkupstate.com 

Onondaga County and nine other area counties each get a share of the revenue from the Oneida Nation's casinos under a 2013 settlement agreement signed by the Oneidas and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The agreement, which also settled outstanding land claims by the Oneidas,  gave the Oneidas the exclusive right to gaming activity in a 10-county area around Turning Stone. In exchange, the Oneidas agreed to share 25 percent of its slot revenues with the state and the counties.

That means no one else but the Oneida Nation could open a casino in those 10 counties, including Onondaga. And if they wanted to build in Onondaga County, they would need state, federal and local approval like any other developer.

In 2016, the Oneida Nation gave nearly $62 million to New York and the 10 counties: Oneida, Madison, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Lewis, Onondaga, Oswego and Otsego.

Point Place Casino will be subject to the same revenue-sharing agreement the Oneidas have with the state.

Mahoney said the county's Lakeview Amphitheater is being funded with revenues from the Oneida Nation casinos. The county took out a 30-year bond on the amphitheater, and is funding the payments from casino revenue, she said.

In 2015, the county received $2.8 million and in 2016 $3.1 million, she said. With a bond payment of $2.5 million, the county is setting aside the additional proceeds.

Mahoney and Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon said the county legislature has several times had the opportunity to allow another type of gambling - Off Track Betting. Each time, county legislators rejected OTB parlors.

Legislators have opposed OTB in 2004, 2011 and 2012.

That's led to OTB parlors being built in adjacent counties, three of them near the Onondaga County line: Bridgeport (Madison County), Phoenix (Oswego County), Weedsport (Cayuga County) and Cortland (Cortland County).

The new Oneida Nation casino will be located just west of the OTB parlor in Bridgeport.

New York state has approved four casinos recently: Del Lago in Tyre, Rivers Casino and Resort located in Schenectady, the Montreign Casino & Raceway in the Catskills and Tioga Downs Casino in the Southern Tier.

McMahon said legislators accept that the state is in the casino business, but on a county level "we don't need people gambling away their paychecks,'' he said.

"We don't think gambling inside county lines is in our interests,'' McMahon said. "We share revenue from the Oneida Nation and we think they know their business model better than we would.

"If they succeed, we succeed,'' he said.

John Becker, town of Sullivan supervisor and Madison County Board of Supervisors chairman, said he's pleased to have Point Place in Bridgeport, which is in the town of Sullivan. It will create jobs and be an impetus for other spinoff businesses, he said.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, through her spokesman, refused to discuss the new casino or whether a casino should some day be built in Syracuse.

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