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Madison County hoping Yellow Brick Road will provide more revenue

Tom Magnarelli
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WRVO News File Photo

The Oneida Indian Nation, which operates the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, opened the new Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango earlier this month. Madison County is pushing to receive a percentage of the new revenue New York state is getting from the Oneidas.

Madison County Board Chairman John Becker admits they didn't see this coming.

“Who would have thought they were going to build another casino this close to another casino? But they have. Most of the other counties in New York state get a revenue sharing from gaming from the state and it's our feeling that it's only fair we get the same thing,” he said.

Becker is working with State Senator David Valesky (D-Oneida) and Assemblyman William Magee (D-Nelson), who have introduced bills that would grant Madison County a 25 percent share of the revenue New York State receives from the Yellow Brick Road Casino and slot machines in two gas stations the Oneida Nation owns.

After years of legal disputes, Madison and Oneida Counties reached a settlement with the Oneida Indian Nation in March 2014. The agreement says Madison County gets $3.5 million a year from the state to make up for lost property and sales taxes because of the casinos. But that was before the nation said they would build Yellow Brick Road. Oneida County receives $2.5 million a year and 25 percent of the revenue from the slot machines at the Turning Stone Casino, so their share goes up with the addition of the new casino.

Credit Tom Magnarelli / WRVO News
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WRVO News File Photo
Madison County Board Chairman John Becker.

“It's certainly a big venue that the Oneida's have built up there. We have fire protection. The town residents pay for ambulances that's a separate contract from everything else. The village is certainly going to see more traffic. I see this as a revenue share to help mitigate some of those issues,” said Becker.

The settlement does allow for additional negotiations.

The Madison County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution earlier this week asking New York state for a percent of the revenue it receives from the new Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango and two gas stations with slot machines.

The chairman says the revenue is new money that is not in New York State's budget yet so it should be easier to allocate.

“This revenue from the new casino and gaming at the two Oneida's gas stations is not booked money, it's not in the budget or anything like that so it's all new money so it's easier to let loose of it and to free it up.”

Becker says he hopes the legislation will pass and that Madison County can negotiate with the governor's office this summer.

Tom Magnarelli is a reporter covering the central New York and Syracuse area. He joined WRVO as a freelance reporter in 2012 while a student at Syracuse University and was hired full time in 2015. He has reported extensively on politics, education, arts and culture and other issues around central New York.