The state’s seven tribal casinos - including the Turning Stone casino east of Syracuse, run by the Oneida Nation - pay lower rates, and the owners of the new casinos have actively lobbied lawmakers to lower their own rates. The casinos pay a tax of anywhere from 37 to 45 percent on slots revenue, as well as 10 percent on revenue from table games like craps and roulette. State officials have touted the millions poured into state and local tax coffers as a result of the expansion, in addition to $171 million in license fees paid by the four new casinos. “The casinos have brought thousands and thousands of jobs to upstate New York and invested billions of dollars.” Cuomo said in a radio interview last month. “We did the casinos in upstate New York, not because it was the greatest industry in the world, but because upstate New York’s economy’s been suffering for decades,” Mr.
Those promises have largely held true, with significant caveats: The construction jobs were temporary, and many casino jobs are low paying, with dealers making a statewide mean salary of about $35,000 a year, according to the State Labor Department.