BILL NUMBER: S2034
SPONSOR: ORTT
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to the sharing of
revenue from gaming devices located within the county of Niagara
 
PURPOSE:
This legislation would allocate $1.6 million from the State's share of
casino funds to the Niagara County IDA to fund downtown economic devel-
opment.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill allocates $1.6 million for downtown economic
development within the city of Niagara Falls. Funds may be used but are
not limited to, rehabilitation of buildings, installation of signage,
training of existing or new employees, installation of machinery.
Specifically, states that no funds shall be allocated for general obli-
gations and responsibilities traditionally provided by the city of
Niagara Falls.
Section 2 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
When the deal was struck to place a casino in Niagara Falls there was
much hope that its placement and the funding being sent to the County
would serve as a catalyst to help redevelop the downtown. Unfortunatet-
ly, this vision has not been realized. This legislation seeks to focus
in on downtown Niagara Falls aimed solely at economic development and
job creation via the expertise of the Niagara County IDA.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:ò
S.652 of 2023/2024; Referred to Finance
A.5282 Referred to Racing and Wagering
S. 2699 of 2021/2022; Referred to Finance
S. 119 of 2019/20; Referred to Finance
S. 734 of 2017/2018; referred to Finance Committee
S. 6795A of 2016; referred to Finance Committee
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
$1.6 million to the State, however the SFY 2016-2017 inclUded the same
amount for this explicit purpose as a 1-year appropriation.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:ò
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S2034: 99-h state finance law