Atlantic City Casinos Likely to See Property Tax Structure Extended
Posted on: February 3, 2025, 10:40h.
Last updated on: February 3, 2025, 11:27h.
The program that determines how Atlantic City casinos are assessed property taxes is likely to be extended through state legislation.

New Jersey Sen. Vince Polistina (R-Atlantic), who sits on the chamber’s Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee, recently told the Press of Atlantic City that legislative undertakings to extend the casinos’ payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program is expected to reach Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) desk before the current property assessment structure expires at the end of 2026. Polistina says discussions in Trenton began a couple of months ago, and are ongoing.
Officially the Casino Property Tax Stabilization Act, the bill was signed into law by then-NJ Gov. Chris Christie (R) in May 2016 and was implemented for the 2017 calendar year. The PILOT program was the result of five casinos closing between 2014 and 2016, which resulted in the remaining properties contesting their assessed property valuations to reduce their tax liability.
The resorts contended that their buildings became far less valuable than their state-assessed values amid a dwindling local gaming industry. As casinos challenged their property values, county and city funding was put on hold. PILOT guarantees that critical tax revenue will be received in a timely fashion for both the county and the city.
Instead of issuing each casino a tax bill based on the resort’s assessed value, PILOT requires the casinos to pay a tax based on their prior year’s collective gaming revenue. Each property pays its fair share based on how much of the gross gaming revenue (GGR) it generates.
Casino Tax Program Overhaul
This year’s PILOT program deliberations will be a high-stakes affair in Trenton, as county and city officials remain upset over a 2021 adjustment to the property tax scheme. Three years ago, state lawmakers, at the request of the nine casinos, agreed to amend the Casino Property Tax Stabilization Act to eliminate iGaming and online sports betting revenue from the annual calculation.
The casinos successfully argued that much of the online revenue goes to third-party partners like FanDuel and DraftKings, which have little to no physical presence in Atlantic City aside from retail sportsbooks. The change resulted in the casinos saving about $55 million a year, largely at the expense of the county and city.
Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson says the county has missed out on more than $14 million since the 2021 change. Atlantic County receives 13.5% of the PILOT bill. A lawsuit challenged the PILOT change, but lost in a case that was only settled last year.
Atlantic City Casino Savings
For the calendar years 2018 through 2022, the maximum property tax was $165 million, which would only be trigged with GGR upwards of $3.4 billion. Removing iGaming and mobile sports wagering allowed the casinos to be assessed on GGR that allowed them to jointly pay $110 million.
While the casinos saved $55 million in both 2021 and 2022, due to the way PILOT is written, their savings were considerably less in 2023, and will be in 2024, too. That’s because the tax terms changed dramatically beginning with the calendar year 2023.
In 2023, Atlantic City brick-and-mortar GGR totaled $2.84 billion.
If the amount of the GGR in the preceding calendar year is between $2.3 billion and $2.9 billion, the base amount shall be $110 million,” the PILOT law stipulates for calendar year 2023. Should iGaming and online sportsbook revenue have remained in the calculation, the tax bill would have only been $10 million more to the maximum of $120 million.
In 2024, Atlantic City brick-and-mortar GGR totaled $2.81 billion, with the casinos again on the hook for $120 million.
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