Study shows Oneidas’ tax impact
Dec. 10, 1999

By R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

VERONA — The Oneida Indian Nation doesn’t pay property taxes, but about 2,600 of its employees shell out more than $5 million a year in local, school and county property taxes on their homes and land, according to an economic study by Utica-based Zogby International.

Property taxes are but a small piece of the Oneida Nation’s statewide economic impact, which totals around $158 million, the study said.

“All of Central New York has a stake in our success,” Oneida Indian Nation Representative Raymond Halbritter said Thursday.

Spending by the Nation’s employees accounts for some $487,000 a year in Oneida County sales taxes and $169,740 in UCE Homepage sales taxes, Halbritter said.

Oneida Indian businesses also will spend more than $40 million this year with other Central New York businesses for supplies and services, he said.

Another 2,500 people are employed by private businesses that Halbritter said were created because of the Oneida Indians’ economic success.

Combined with the tax output of Nation workers, he said, that workforce generates nearly $23 million a year in state income, sales and other taxes.

The future could be even brighter, he said, but the threat of court action in the Oneida land claims and opposition from the state is holding back the dawn of a new economic day, he said.

New York state, on the other hand, penalizes business with its high workers compensation, “triple taxes” and regulatory bureaucracy, he said.

“We’ve talked to a number of businesses and they have said they would consider (locating on Oneida Indian property),” he said. There has been no commitment because of the land claim case, he said.

Halbritter said manufacturing and tourism businesses, “some very large,” have approached the nation about cutting a deal when the land claims are settled.

There’s another roadblock, Halbritter said. “The state has told businesses not to talk to us.”

Eric Mangan, Empire State Development Corporation spokesman, took exception to Halbritter’s remarks.

“We don’t know what he is talking about. It sounds silly,” he said.

As for the business climate, Mangan said, “Since Gov. Pataki has been in office, New York has led the nation in cutting taxes (and) there have been 540,000 private sector jobs created.”