Reacting to last week's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that said Indian tribes must pay taxes and obey local laws on non-reservation land they own, state Sen. Michael Nozzolio said, "Its clarity was its beauty."

He could not be more on the mark.

So it's curious - and disturbing - that the lawyer representing the county in land claim litigation urged his client to wait a few more days before it starts trying to force the issue with the two land-owning tribes here.

There is no good reason to delay.

This county has waited more than two decades for the nation's highest court to resolve this legal issue, and as a result lost tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes from the Cayuga Indian Nation and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.

Each day those funds go uncollected is another day of money lost for all of the taxpayers living here.

The time is now to start collecting taxes and enforcing local laws.

And even if the tribes resist, which is entirely possible, governments now have the best tool at their disposal if they have to pursue litigation - an 8-1 Supreme Court ruling that says the municipalities are right.

We find it odd that Dorr, who comes from Nozzolio's Harris Beach LLP law firm, is pushing patience while the land claim issue is sorted out. Nozzolio seems to believe the issue has been determined and its time to move forward. But then Nozzolio, unlike Dorr, has constituents.

But Dorr and Cayuga County Chairman Herb Marshall have been preaching settlement all along, so we wouldn't expect either to quickly roll out of bed with the tribes and file to collect property taxes.

In fact, don't be surprised if Cayuga County drags its feet on tax collection; after all, its legal counsel from Harris Beach may have trouble backpeddling from its past involvement with one of the tribe's casino developers, Thomas C. Wilmot.

And so, as Sen. Nozzolio trumpets last month's Supreme Court decision, would he like to explain to his constituents again how working for Harris Beach isn't a conflict of interest?