Upstate Citizens for Equality sponsors petition urging No new taxes or tax increases in New York.

Given the fiscal crisis we are facing, the States policy of enforcing its lawful tax laws on only non-Indian businesses can no longer be tolerated nor accepted. The New York Court of Appeals in Snyder v. Wetzler and a unanimous United States Supreme Court held in Department of Taxation & Fin. of N.Y. v Milhelm Attea & Bros., 512 U.S. 61, 129 L. Ed. 2d 52, 114 S. Ct. 2028 that the State may place minimal burdens on Indian retailers and tribes to collect taxes from non-Indians on Indian Land. With the exception of actions taken in the Spring of 1997 nothing has been done to collect this revenue. Some reports have placed this lost revenue in the billions. This petition urges New York officials to not pass any tax or tax increase until this revenue source is utilized first.

Governor Pataki acknowledged the need for legislative approval of this policy of non-enforcement in his press release of May 22, 1997, where he stated Let me make my message to all Indian Nations clear: It is your land, we respect your sovereignty and, if the Legislature acts as I am requesting, you will have the right to sell tax-free gasoline and cigarettes free from interference from New York State." The governor even introduced a bill to effect this change. In a July 18, 1997 article by Tom Precious entitled Patakis sales tax plan for Indian reservations gets pushed aside" that appeared in The Buffalo News Speaker Silver was quoted as saying that this is a complex issue" and that [b]efore we deal with it, we have to take a significant look at it, so I dont think anything is going to happen on it this year." Speaker Silver was correct, in fact nothing has happened for the last 6 years. This despite our State Constitution prohibition against any tax exemption that is not enacted by a general law (Article XVI § 1). This section also separately prohibits any attempt to contract away the power of taxation unless sanctioned by the people themselves.

Secondly a number of times in recent years the legislature passed and the governor allowed to become law various bills that increased the taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products to help fund health care programs in the state as a result of the ailments associated with such products. However, the states policy of non-enforcement undermines this admirable intention.

Then in response to our fiscal crisis the governor introduces and the legislature authorizes a Compact" with the Seneca Nation of Indians to open three casinos. This ill written compact is fraught with legal infirmities, does not provide money to the localities that have to provide emergency services to them, and again favors Indians over non-Indians. In less than a week the City of Niagara Falls has run out of money to provide the necessary increased police patrols. The city and its schools are further harmed by the removal of the property on which the casino stands from the real property tax rolls. This also affects the County of Niagara in that it will loose its share of property taxes and sales taxes. Of which the regular extension of the extra 1% sales tax authorized to various counties have seemed to become permanent with nothing more required than a perfunctory asking. This fate will be borne out in Erie County shortly and in either Cattaraugus, Chautauqua or Allegany counties thereafter as well as any county in which one of these gaming facilities are or will operate. Any future gaming compact should provide for the collection of taxes from non-Indian and non-member patrons. The online petition is at http://www.petitiononline.com/NYTaxes/petition.html