Back in 2014, the gambling sector of New Jersey experienced a lot of issues, which led to the closure of four casinos and a fifth one narrowly escaped such a fate. Anyway, Atlantic City officials have been relentlessly working towards remedying the situation and ensuring the remaining casinos are financially stable.
They made serious attempts towards stabilizing the local gambling sector but the question about the tax relief has been literary stalled in the Statehouse. By the end of the month, casinos are expected to challenge their assessed value in the problematic local gambling sector, an action, which leaves Mayor Don Guardian embattled between two key political figures.
It seems like the Governor Chris Christie and the Senate President Stephen Sweeney have particular disagreements related to the tax relief plan of Atlantic City. It was formerly known as the Casino Property Taxation Stabilization Act and Mr. Sweeney was among its sponsors.
Governor Christie is waiting to see the standpoint of the emergency management team he appointed a few weeks ago and eventually create a plan based on the recommendations of the above mentioned team of specialists.
Those who support the plan of Mr. Sweeney hurried up to announce that Governor Christie is not taking the matter seriously. On the contrary – he was accused of neglecting the issue.
However, local officials and casino managers are pressed for time. Slowly but surely they are approaching the deadline for filing appeals for this year’s property tax assessments. In point of fact, the legislation in question was expected to reduce them.
Mayor Guardian has approved of Sweeney’s plan, related to the tax relief the remaining casinos are supposed to be provided with. They will have to pay a lump tax over the next 15 years.
The Mayor commented on the matter a few days ago and said that residents as well as business owners located in Atlantic City have to come to terms with the fact that these bills have to be passed as soon as possible so the property-tax issue and the financial condition of the businesses, including casinos, is stabilized. Plus, the so-called PILOT plan, introduced by Sweeney, was supported by key political figures who truly believe that it will compensate for the losses caused by the bankruptcy of the four casinos and reduce the uncertainty concerning the annual budget of the city.
In addition, the PILOT plan is believed to help hundreds of people avoid losing their jobs. The Casino Association also backed the plan and mere days ago, the Atlantic City officials were urged to take a decision as soon as possible.
The Governor has already acquainted himself with the plan of Sweeney and the other proposals but said that none of them is good enough.
Back in January, Chris Christie said that “all these efforts have not yet created a plan for long-term success in Atlantic City”. He also added that he relies on the members of the emergency management team to help him solve the property-tax issue.
The spokesman of the Governor said that Chris Christie relies predominantly on the recommendations of the emergency management team and was impatiently waiting for their final say.
However, the current situation is not favorable to Mayor Guardian who announced that he needs both Governor Chris Christie and the Senate President Stephen Sweeney to share similar view about the tax relief issue.
The above-mentioned emergency management team is expected to announce its findings within two weeks, on March 24th, which is only a week before the deadline for tax appeals.
