BUFFALO, NY -- The 1997 demonstrations led by American Indians over state tax policies have left a lasting impression on New York’s current Pataki administration--so much so that the administration maintains it will not enforce current state law to collect cigarette excise taxes sold on Indian reservations to non-Indians, reports The New York Times.

According to the Times, Gov. George Pataki (R) proposed in his fiscal year 2007 budget to delay the law by one year, which took effect March 1. Administration officials admit they are concerned Indian tribes will repeat their 1997 demonstrations and again cost the state “millions of dollars in state police expenses.”

“Our goal has always been to solve this matter through cooperation instead of confrontation,” the governor’s spokesman Kevin Quinn told the Times. “The Tax Department has indicated it will continue its current policy as the governor and legislature discuss these matters.”

These “matters” have also created confusion among cigarette wholesalers and their reservation customers. For example, should they ignore state law and trust that the administration will not enforce the tax collection, or will penalties for selling cigarettes without a tax stamp come back to haunt them?

The Times writes that last month, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer suggested to cigarette wholesalers that if they continue to supply cigarettes without a tax stamp to Indian retailers, they could lose their licenses.

The New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) has also contacted six wholesalers suspected of selling unstamped cigarettes to reservation retailers, advising them that they must adhere to the March 1 law. NYACS has also indicated the association is prepared to take legal action if necessary.

Last week, cigarette wholesaler Milhem Attea and Sons of Buffalo, which sells to stores on the Seneca and Tuscarora reservations, notified its customers that it would not ship unstamped cigarettes. However, by March 17, a lawyer for the wholesaler said he “received word from the Tax Department” that his client could continue shipping unstamped cigarettes to the reservation stores, writes the newspaper.

“All we're concerned about is knowing one way or another whether that policy [of nonenforcement] is going to continue,” said Milhem Attea and Sons lawyer Joseph E. Zdarsky. “If it didn't, theoretically, someone could assess taxes against our client in crippling amounts,” he told the Times.