NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Despite the promise of an advance on casino revenue from the state to help balance its 2019 budget, Niagara Falls Councilman Kenny Tompkins says the city could still be in the red.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the advance last week while visiting Western New York.
Mayor Paul Dyster included the $12.3 million dollar advancement in his $106 million dollar budget proposal.
Tompkins said the city does not have the funds in hand and that it should not be factored into the budget.
"The governor is asking in next year's budget, which we don't know if it will pass, to give us up to $12.3 million," Tompkins said. "I got a big problem with ‘up to.’ What if they only give us $1 million?"
Before the budget proposal was released, Tompkins asked the mayor for confirmation the state would front Niagara Falls the money. Tompkins said he only received a copy of a letter by Governor Cuomo after Tompkins wrote a letter to the state comptroller.
Dyster refutes Tompkins' claims and said all Niagara Falls councilmembers were given a copy of the letter regarding the state advancing casino revenue.
Dyster, a Democrat, accused the Republican councilman of “grandstanding.”
In a statement to Spectrum News, Dyster said in part:
"If he [Kenny Tompkins] is serious about not using casino revenue in the 2019 budget then he should present the administration with a list of layoffs and necessary tax increase to compensate for the loss of those revenues. While the administration shares the council's objectives of reducing the use of casino revenues in the general fund over time, to try to do so in a single budget cycle would have catastrophic results."
The Niagara Falls Council has until December to amend and finalize the budget.