State threatens to reallocate $50M in Seneca Nation road funds

Friday, August 3, 2012  

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) threatened to reallocate $50 million in road funds affecting the Seneca Nation as part of a dispute over a Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance fee.

The state has been balking at paying the tribe's TERO fee of 3.5 percent. But the state said it would pay the fee -- as long the tribe settled an unrelated dispute over $400 million in gaming revenues.

"It's despicable," Seneca President Robert Odawi Porter said in response, WGRZ-TV reported. "It's unacceptable."

The TERO fee at issue appears to be rather small -- around $1.7 million for a project on Interstate 86. The Federal Highway Administration is providing 90 percent of the cost of the project.

Get the Story:
Cuomo ups the ante in dispute with Senecas (The Buffalo News 8/3)
Senecas, state continue to battle over I-86 work (The Salamanca Press 8/3)
State Ready To Start Construction On Seneca Land Monday (The Jamestown Post-Journal 8/3)
NYS vs. Seneca Nation: Construction Money or Gaming Revenue? (WKBW-TV 8/2)
NYDOT Threatens To Stop Seneca Highway & Bridge Repairs (WGRZ-TV 8/2)

Seneca Nation demands $1M fee from state for highway project (5/25)