TRENTON — A bill to give 1.25% of sports gaming dollars generated by Atlantic City casinos to the city for property tax relief passed out of a state Senate committee Thursday morning.
Under current law the 1.25% tax goes to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to market and promote the city.
“When the bill (legalizing sports gaming) first passed in 2018, the only municipality or township left out of benefitting from sports gaming was Atlantic City,” said Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr., who was in Trenton to speak in favor of the bill. “Make that make sense.”
That decision was made early in the state’s takeover of the city, which in 2016 was facing possible bankruptcy due to overspending and having to pay tens of millions of dollars back to casinos after their successful property tax appeals.
Small said the city’s financial picture has improved drastically since then, and its taxpayers should now benefit more from taxes generated in the city.
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The sponsor of S854, Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, estimated that about $2.5 million would be newly available to the city under his bill. It generated about $2 million in 2020, Singleton said, basing it on state Division of Gaming Enforcement reports.
But sports gaming revenues have increased at a fast clip each year since legalization, and he did not have 2021 numbers.
The Office of Legislative Services has certified the bill (S854) for a fiscal note, meaning it has determined the bill requires a report done on the fiscal impact. But it is not yet posted with the bill, which still must pass the full Senate and Assembly.
S854 was supported by the three Democrats on the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee but opposed by Sen. Vince Polistina, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic and Senator James W. Holzapfel, R-Ocean.
Polistina said the city gets other revenues from gaming and it’s important that the CRDA not lose funding necessary to market the city, especially as New York City is poised to open casinos in the next few years.
Mayor Marty Small has long complained that his city gets nothing from a variety of state-imposed taxes on aspects of the casino and tourism industry, including parking, luxury and hotel room taxes. Sports betting is yet another area where the state taxes, but the city receives nothing, the mayor said.
“Everyone in this room, and there are about 25 of us, can drive to Atlantic City,” Small said. “Once we park our car, that’s parking tax. We go to the bar and buy a drink, that’s luxury tax. We go into our room, that’s the room tax. We go to a late-night show, that’s luxury tax again. Then we make a sports bet; that’s sports betting tax.
“Guess what the residents of Atlantic City get from our stay?” he asked. “Zero. When are we going to get our slice of the pie?”
Polistina countered that the city receives ample tax relief under a revised payment in lieu of taxes bill approved by the Legislature in December.
Polistina opposed the PILOT amendment bill, over which the county has sued, and said that any changes to money flowing to the CRDA need to come after a “global discussion” of Atlantic City’s present situation and its future.
New Jersey led the nation in terms of the size of its sports betting market since shortly after the first legal bets were made in 2018. It only recently lost its top spot nationally in January once New York state allowed mobile sports betting and zoomed past New Jersey.
Singleton said state lawmakers continually talk about returning money to the people.
“This is literally giving money back to taxpayers,” he said. “If we’re serious about affordability, here’s an opportunity.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post
609-841-2895
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