The head of New Jersey’s Senate Budget and Appropriations committee criticized Governor Chris Christie in a recent op-ed guest column for not providing projections for online gaming tax revenue in the coming year.
State Sen. Paul Sarlo, writing a guest column for the Newark Star-Ledger, charged the administration with trying to block information to the committee is several areas—including online gaming tax revenue.
“Gov. Chris Christie talks about transparency, but when it comes to his fiscal 2015 budget, the governor has decided to close the shades on the public,” Sarlo said. “As a result, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee is too often left to make critical decisions that affect all New Jerseyans without the necessary information.
“I recently asked the Treasury Department for the administration’s projections for online gambling revenue for the current and next fiscal year. The request stems from the administration’s overstated estimates for the current fiscal year of $160 million. With four months left in the fiscal year, the tax has generated just $6 million, Sarlo said.
“The Treasury Department has refused our request, initially saying it was ‘too complicated’ to untangle online revenue from traditional casino floor revenue, even though the state already discloses monthly online gambling revenue. Later, state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said he doesn’t see any value in decoupling the revenues and prefers to look at the issue ‘holistically’ I couldn’t disagree more.
“From a budget perspective, we need to know the reliability of revenue estimates,” Sarlo said. “From a policy perspective, it’s important to know the benefits of the program as we assess the risks and rewards of expanding gambling. There is other important financial information residents deserve to have from the state. But the administration has been less than forthcoming.”
