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Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks on opening day Feb. 1, 2017 at del Lago Resort & Casino.
Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was a leading proponent of allowing the construction of four upstate New York casinos, but he's not receptive to the idea of bailing out the troubled gaming facilities. 
One day after del Lago Resort & Casino in Seneca County announced that it was seeking help from the state, Cuomo said he's not sympathetic to casinos requesting assistance. 
"The upstate gaming casinos are private concerns. They bid, they made an investment and some of them will say they're not doing as well as they hoped or would've expected," he told reporters in Albany Wednesday. "But they're private concerns, and I don't want to get into the business of bailing out private concerns."
Del Lago opened in February 2017 — Cuomo was at the grand opening event — and has been struggling to meet its lofty revenue projections. The casino was projected to rake in $263 million in its first year, but fell well short of that goal by more than $100 million. 
The possibility of a bailout was mentioned when Tom Wilmot, chairman of del Lago Resort & Casino, told the USA Today Network's Albany bureau Tuesday that he was asking for the state to help the casino. Wilmot didn't disclose what assistance he requested. 
Steve Greenberg, a spokesman for the casino, blamed del Lago's woes on the Seneca Nation's decision to no longer share a portion of its revenue with state and local governments. The Senecas operate three casinos in western New York.
Greenberg also claimed the Senecas have been investing millions in promotional efforts targeting Rochester-area consumers. Rochester is a top market for del Lago. 
"Del Lago can compete on an even playing field but not one that's tipped so heavily toward the Senecas," he said. 
Like Wilmot, Greenberg didn't reveal what assistance del Lago requested. It's believed that the casino wants a lower tax rate. The four commercial casinos in New York pay a 37 percent tax on slot machine revenue and 10 percent on its table game haul. 
State Sen. Joe Griffo, a Mohawk Valley Republican, distributed a letter he sent to Cuomo and Robert Mujica, the state budget director. In his letter, Griffo revealed del Lago wants "a tax break somewhere around $14 million." 
Griffo doesn't support such a bailout for del Lago. 
"Our state has more pressing needs in areas such as health care, education and infrastructure," he wrote. "It would be inappropriate to devote public revenues to a private casino corporation when the people of New York were promised after the casino referendum that these casinos would be generating revenue for their local economies and would become economic engines themselves." 
State Sen. John DeFrancisco, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, also opposes a bailout for del Lago. He also recalled that Wilmot, a longtime Rochester-area developer, wanted to build a casino in New York for years. 
One of the sites Wilmot eyed was the New York State Fairgrounds in Onondaga County. 
DeFrancisco believes the free market, not the state, should determine del Lago's fate. 
"Not a dime in tax dollars should go to a casino bailout," he said. 
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