Atlantic City gets a cut

A New Jersey Senate committee has voted to direct 1.25% of gambling tax revenue from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to Atlantic City.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small has long campaigned for his area to get more love in the form of tax dollars. The new bill would allow the diverted funds to be used for property tax fund relief.?

help create roughly $2m annually for Atlantic City

The bill, sponsored by southern New Jersey Democratic Senator Troy Singleton, could help create roughly $2m annually for Atlantic City.

Details of the new bill

Mayor Small has longstanding issues with the way that his city is treated compared to its value, specifically in tourism. Small feels that the state benefits from his city’s market, but is not fairly compensated as such.

“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.”

Small continued:

“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?”

New Jersey has one of the most successful betting markets in the entire United States.

New Jersey has one of the most successful betting markets in the entire United States. Its $10.9bn handle in 2021 topped all other states, and although it lost some of its share to New York, is still producing extremely high returns.

Republican Senator Vincent Polistina, who also represents Atlantic City, disagreed with Small. He said that the area receives plenty enough tax relief under an amended tax bill passed in December.

Changes afoot in Atlantic City

The new effort to bring more tax compensation into Atlantic City is just one part of recent changes. Back in January, lawmakers proposed legislation that would ban smoking in indoor casinos.

Small is right in stating that Atlantic City is a massive draw for tourism; its government webpage states that over 27 million visitors come to vacation every year.

Still, Polistina opposes the bill on the basis that the state needs a more big-picture plan that accounts for future developments, such as New York’s soon-to-be-approved casinos. 

The Garden State has led the nation in sports betting handle for almost the entirety of the post-2018 legalization period. New Jersey only lost its spot atop the charts once New York legalized online gambling on January 8.

Singleton views his sponsored bill as an opportunity to show appreciation to the people of the ever-popular city.

This is literally giving money back to taxpayers.”

“This is literally giving money back to taxpayers,” he said. “If we’re serious about affordability, here’s an opportunity.”

The bill is still yet to pass a full Senate vote; from there, it needs approval in the Assembly before it can be signed into effect by the Governor.