In case you forgot, Governor Phil Murphy recently reminded listeners of the WNVC radio program Ask Governor Murphy that the courts have not made a final determination on the weight of the lawsuit between the state and Atlantic County with respect to the PILOT payments.
In response to reporter Nancy Solomon’s query, Murphy promised the industry will pay its fair share in taxes. The issue revolves around a 2021 law that removed sports betting and online gaming revenue from the calculation of the tax burden to Atlantic City, the school district and the county.
The law as enacted would likely cut $55 million from what the casino industry would pay the county as part of the payment-in-lieu-of-property-taxes (PILOT).
“Tax fairness is really important to us, and it has been from day one. And if we don’t quite get it right, we’ll come back at it and do everything we can to get it right,” Murphy told WNVC.
The state is appealing Superior Court rulings made in two separate lawsuits, one from Atlantic County and another from conservative nonprofit Liberty and Prosperity 1776 that challenged the 2021 law amending PILOT.
The Superior Court ruled for the county, with Judge Joseph Marczyk writing a February 25 decision that the new law violated a 2018 consent order.
“If it is fair, why should the Atlantic County taxpayer be the only taxpayers in the state that are taking it on the chin?” County Executive Dennis Levinson said.
Seth Grossman of Liberty and Prosperity also questioned the administration’s insistence the law was settled..
“Governor Murphy failed to even mention our State Constitution, which requires casino real estate to be assessed and taxed the same as all other real estate. Once again, this Governor is showing either ignorance or contempt for a document that he swore to comply with,” Grossman said in a statement.
Murphy’s comments were his first since December 2021, four years since the payments began in 2017.
