Atlantic City Mayor Lobbying To Keep NJ Sports Betting Revenue Local

• Atlantic City Casinos account for nine out of the 12 retail sportsbooks in New Jersey.
• The New Jersey sports gambling laws require 1.25% of all sports wagers to be used to fund the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority – a state-administered agency.
• Unless more legislative action is taken, the laws will remain in place until 2021.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Sports bettors in New Jersey have been putting action on games all throughout Atlantic City Casinos for over a year. Now, Atlantic City officials want to control their piece of that action.

In the city’s Taxpayer Association meeting, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small voiced his opinion on the current way that sports betting taxes are being handled.

“In 14 months, New Jersey has overtaken Las Vegas as the No. 1 sports betting destination, and a lot of it has to [do] with the success of Atlantic City and online.” “But we don’t get one penny…That’s unacceptable.”

 

“My first and foremost goal, as it was as council president and will continue to be as mayor, is more rateables for the city and more revenue streams to offset our taxes,” said Small.

According to NJ A 4230, a sports betting bill that was passed in October of 2018, an additional 1.25% tax is placed upon the city’s casino sportsbooks or partnered sports wagering operations.

That tax is used to fund the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), a state-administered agency which uses the money to advertise and promote Atlantic City. This is different from other NJ cities and municipalities who get to directly control the funds generated by sports betting in NJ.

Cities such as East Rutherford and Oceanport are able to receive a 0.75% tax, and their counties are able to get a 0.5% tax for economic development purposes. Some see this unique tax structure as a way of the state government not trusting Atlantic City with the extra money generated by legal sports betting.

Managing director of Spectrum Gaming Group, Michael Pollock, gave his stance on why Atlantic City is treated the way it is to The Press of Atlantic City.

“There has never been a great deal of confidence in the municipal government of Atlantic City to effectively manage its finances,” said Pollock.

However, NJ Assemblymen Jon Armato and Vince Mazzeo, who represent Atlantic City, have also taken Mayor Small’s outlook on the possibility of using tax dollars for property tax relief. As it stands, the state government will continue to carry out its actions until at least 2021.

News tags: Atlantic City | Casino Reinvestment Development Authority | Jon Armato | Marty Small | Michael Pollock | New Jersey | NJ A 4230 | Vince Mazzeo