Key lawmakers in both Cayuga and Seneca counties said they favor asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn this month’s unfavorable state court ruling in the counties’ cigarette tax dispute with the Cayuga Indians. The counties have yet to make a decision but Cayuga County Legislature Chairman Peter Tortorici and Seneca County lawmaker Robert Shipley both said they want to...
Key lawmakers in both Cayuga and Seneca counties said they favor asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn this month’s unfavorable state court ruling in the counties’ cigarette tax dispute with the Cayuga Indians.
The counties have yet to make a decision but Cayuga County Legislature Chairman Peter Tortorici and Seneca County lawmaker Robert Shipley both said they want to take the case to the nation’s highest court even if it means spending more local tax dollars.
“I would vote in favor of the county moving forward because we feel the state Court of Appeals used the wrong standard for determining what a reservation is,’’ said Shipley, who chairs his county’s Indian affairs committee.
On May 11, the state’s highest court sided with the Cayugas in the tax dispute. The court ruled the counties could not prosecute the nation for selling tax-free cigarettes to non-Indians at its LakeSide Trading stores in Union Springs and Seneca Falls because there is no state system in place to collect the tax.
In its decision, the appeals court also said the stores – which lie in the nation’s original homeland around the north end of Cayuga Lake -- are on qualified reservation land under state tax law.
The counties have 90 days from the appeals court ruling to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. Rochester lawyer Philip Spellane, who represents both counties, said he has discussed taking that step with both counties.
However, Daniel French, a Syracuse lawyer representing the nation, said the counties would be better off trying to negotiate a settlement rather than spend more local tax dollars on fighting the court decision.
“Apparently with unlimited resources the counties are certainly free to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on a matter of purely state law. However, a better use of these resources might be negotiating a settlement of these issues with a significant potential gain for the counties,’’ French said.
Spellane said he believes the state appeals court erred in its conclusion that the Cayugas can have reservation land without sovereignty.
“Our position has always been that you can’t have a reservation without sovereignty,’’ Spellane said.
The counties have tried for years to legally block the Cayugas from selling tax-free cigarettes because they say it gives the nation an unfair competitive edge over non-Indian businesses that have to collect the tax and charge higher prices.
French said the Cayugas have legal history on their side and said only Congress can disestablish a reservation.
“The Cayuga Nation has a federally recognized reservation and every court that has examined the issue … has ruled the reservation exists whether it’s sovereign or not,’’ French said.
You can reach Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839