Got this in my inbox today from the NMG (New Millennium Group)

Interesting article/opinion piece in yesterday’s Niagara Gazette, one that should shed even more light on why a downtown casino would be bad…(bold emphasis courtesy of All Things Jen!)

CITYCIDE: FIGURES SHOW EXECS GET GOLD MINE WHILE CASINO WORKERS GET SHAFTED By David Staba It’s amazing what comes under the door at the offices of the Niagara Falls Reporter. Closely guarded financial figures from the Seneca Niagara Casino’s first year of operation and revenue projections covering the second, for instance.

Officials of the Seneca Gaming Corp., following the lead of CEO Mickey Brown, have repeatedly refused to disclose any numbers to date, other than the $38 million paid to New York State under the terms of the casino compact. The state’s share, from which comes the $9.5 million allocated to Niagara Falls in January, is derived strictly from slot-machine profits. That means every penny spent on table games, as well as food, beverage and souvenirs, goes to the corporation and remains secret. You could argue that it’s an issue of sovereignty, and that the Seneca Gaming Corp. shouldn’t have to tell non-Native Americans anything. Except that Brown and Company are keeping the size of the casino’s profits secret from members of the Seneca Nation, as well. Or at least they’re trying to.

The numbers provided to the Reporter, along with an unsigned cover letter printed on Seneca Gaming Corp. letterhead, while by no means comprehensive, do tell many stories:

In December 2003, the last month for which figures were provided and the capper to Seneca Niagara’s first full year of operation, the casino brought in $22,276,773, while showing a profit of $4,644,216 — $3,327,463 more than budgeted. The surplus came courtesy of the slots, which swallowed $18,283,697 — $3,197,652 above the budgeted amount. In otherwords, 82 percent of the casino’s gross revenue and almost 96 percent of its excess profits emanated from its slot machines. At the end of 2003, the casino’s total long-term debt was $83,076,071. Of that amount, $57,300,000 was listed as long-term debt and $13,424,667 as long-term notes payable. The current portion of long-term debt — what has to paid by Jan. 1, 2005 — came to $12,351,404. The biggest current liability, or short-term debt, was $39,017,277. Of that total, $38 million was paid in January to New York State, with $9.5 million of that trickling down to the City of Niagara Falls. The next largest payable line was $10,487,377 in construction liabilities. That went up $5,296,315 during December, while construction on the first phase of the mammoth parking ramp at the corner of Niagara and Fourth streets was in full swing.

While a number of casino employees have told the Reporter that officials respond to requests for an increase in wages that start at $4.40 an hour, plus tips, by telling them that “we’re just getting by,” the balance sheet tells a different story. At the end of December, the casino had $62,815,274 cash on hand — either in the casino itself, in banks or in short-term investments. Seneca Gaming Corp. officials budgeted a total of $4,688,896 for labor. Little more than one-quarter of that total — $1,246,142 — was slated for people manning and supervising the table games, who make up at least half of the total workforce. Most of the other non-executive workers — food and beverage workers, slot attendants and the like –work at the below-minimum-wage-plus-tips level. “This is obscene,” said a financial analyst who broke down the figures for Citycide and estimated at least half of the “labor” budget went to casino executives. “What’s going to the actual workers, compared to the total revenue, is pretty disgusting.”

Over the 12-month period beginning last October, the casino expects to comp more than $3 million to patrons — $1,982,872 in food (that’s $5,417 per day), $364,578 in beverages, $990,844 in retail items such as souvenirs and $36,837 in entertainment. The same forecast anticipates the equivalent of 621 to 660 full-time employees working in table games at any given time. If that department makes up half the total workforce — a conservative estimate, according to a number of employees and casino-industry insiders — that’s a maximum of 1,300 full-time slots. Of course, when casino and government officials claim the casino has created 2,000 jobs or more, they don’t say “full-time jobs.” By minimizing the number of full-time workers, the Seneca Gaming Corp. saves millions in benefits they don’t have to pay. Between the jobs rightfully reserved for members of the Seneca Nation and other Native Americans, Canadians with experience working at Casino Niagara who came across the bridge to work and employees commuting from Buffalo and elsewhere, the number of full-time jobs Seneca Niagara has provided for residents of Niagara Falls likely numbers about 200. “If it’s that many, I’d be surprised,” said one employee who has worked at the casino since its opening weeks. The stunning success of Seneca Niagara’s first year in operation made for a healthy bottom line and big bonuses for executives, who understandably don’t want their employees, members of the Seneca Nation or anyone else to know just how healthy or just how big.

This isn’t meant to contend that having a casino isn’t better than not having a casino. But throughout the entire process of getting the casino approved, politicians prattled on about the jobs and economic impact it would provide as cover for giving away the farm. The Seneca Gaming Corp. was given 55 acres of prime land in downtown Niagara Falls, less than five blocks from a wonder of the world, for free. Sorry, make that $1. Thrown in for good measure: a mammoth building that, for all its shortcomings, cost millions to build and filled a lot of hotel rooms with conventioneers, dog owners and truck-pull fans over its nearly 30-year run — rooms that now sit mostly vacant, with the old Convention Center and all the acres around it off the city’s already-decimated tax rolls forever.

In return for all of that, the city gets $9.5 million and maybe 200 jobs, while footing the bill for extra police and maintaining infrastructure. Quite a bargain.

Brown has made it quite clear that how much money is being made on theland and in the building you gave the company he runs is none of your business. Nor does he think much of it should get back to the people he’s supposedly working for. But it is, and it should. Whether you’re a member of the Seneca Nation, a resident of Niagara Falls or just a New York State taxpayer, you have a right to know. And now you do. At least some of it. Something tells me, though, more of the story will be sliding under our office door soon.