Atlantic City Casinos’ Tax Cuts Ratified by New Jersey Lawmakers

Atlantic City Casinos

Atlantic City Casinos are celebrating the ratification of an amendment that has officially led to significant tax cuts that have been justified as part of a relief reform to protect the interests of the business devoted to the gaming industry. 

In this case, the New Jersey Senate and Assembly confirmed unanimous voting on the amendment. Late Tuesday night, New Jersey Governor. Phil Murphy signed the bill to officialize the ratification of S4007

More specifically, the amendment is intended to exclude gross gaming revenues generated from a minimal amount of online betting dynamics from being contemplated in property tax calculations. 

The estimate is that Atlantic City Casinos will now contemplate a $55 million tax cut as GGR estimates for 2022 will amount to $110 million. This is below the original $165 million expected for online gaming revenues. 

Some of the online gaming dynamics excluded by the amendment are sports betting, slot machines, poker, and other table games. Although the state government has ratified the bill’s passing, the opposition hasn’t and is expected not to cease. 

 

Casinos Justify The Passing Of The Amendment

According to state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the amendment, more than just boosting capital for Casinos to survive, is also a differentiated form of protective measures that state governments need to consider to keep businesses alive. 

Sweeney added that approximately up to four casinos would have been in danger of shutting down operations if the Senate had not supported the ratification of the Pilot project. The estimate on how much casinos will save is expected to remain between the $30 to $60 million range per year for the next five years. 

Aside from just keeping certain casinos afloat, the argument has also been around the people potentially affected by the closing of casinos. To the Casino Association of New Jersey, the estimate is around the thousands in terms of jobs that will be protected with the inclusion of this piece of legislature. 

 

Opposition Questions Casinos Ability to Meet Tax Requirements

To some, such as Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, there is really no means to justify the extent to which the state has gone to assist certain businesses such as casinos. To Levinson, it’s contradictory to ignore growing revenue streams and leave such from state reforms that cities like Atlantic City must rely on. 

Levinson claims that all casinos have reported revenue growth in the last year. For casinos, revenue streams generated from on-site betting have hurt, yet Levinson claims this should weigh in favor of considering revenue from all forms of online gambling, not to set them aside. 

To some government reps, Atlantic City has been hurt from constant cuts on taxes generated by passing certain pieces of legislation, such as the one ratified last Tuesday.

It’s argued that the City’s budget has been significantly reduced with constant tax revenue cuts from one of the industries that thrive from positive financial gains. 

Before Gov. Murphy’s signing, Levinson stated that he would be filing a lawsuit against if all state parties ratified the bill. 

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