Atlantic City Mayor wants a cut of sports betting tax

At a meeting of the Atlantic City Taxpayer’s Association, Mayor Marty Small expressed his opinion on the lack of tax revenue going to the city, asserting, "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 a lot of it is online. But we don’t get one penny. Just think about that. That’s unacceptable".

The sports gambling tax code establishes that a 1.25% percentage of all wagers is destined for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which was created "exclusively for tourism and marketing programs for the City of Atlantic City." However, the city doesn’t control that fund; rather, the state does.

According to local media, part of the reason Atlantic City doesn’t control the fund is the lack of confidence in the city administration. Meanwhile, the state oversees its management, performing Governor Chris Christie’s order, and will continue to do so through 2021. Phil Murphy, the current governor, had run on a campaign ahead of the 2018 election that included returning control to the city but changed his mind after seeing the instability once in office. Until the city can demonstrate that it is responsible and knows how to manage its finances properly, the state government doesn’t plan on making any changes.