The city council in Niagara Falls is expected to enact a spending freeze at its meeting this afternoon.
The city has had to borrow about $18 annually since the Seneca Nation stopped sharing casino revenue with the state three years ago.
The revenue sharing payments stopped when the legislature dropped the tribe’s exclusivity rights by authorizing the opening of “racinos.”
As a result, communities which had benefited from the additional state aid generated by the casino-revenue sharing agreement have taken a hit in their budgets.
Mayor Paul Dyster has said he hopes the issue can be resolved in arbitration.