Casino Ballot Question Going To Voters In November

Voters will decide this November whether or not casinos can be built somewhere other than Atlantic City.

The state Senate and Assembly Monday overwhelmingly voted in favor of putting a referendum on the ballot. The Senate voted 34-6, the Assembly 54-16.

The ballot question will stipulate that only a current Atlantic City casino operator would control any winning bid for a casino other than in North Jersey at a minimum construction cost of $1 million.

The Meadowlands and Jersey City are the most likely spots where a casino would be built. Triple Five, developer of the $5 billion American Dream Meadowlands project also reportedly wants to make a casino part of the historic project.

The proposed constitutional amendment would require that tax revenues generated would be used for property tax relief and programs for senior citizens and disabled residents, The Record reported.

Tax revenues from the one or more casinos could be between 40 and 60 percent. Democrat Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo is sponsoring legislation to impose a 66 percent tax on gaming revenues for casinos located outside of Atlantic City. The eight Atlantic City casinos left pay a tax rate of 9.25 percent. Caputo, D-Essex, has long argued in favor of a November ballot question. He previously said that the only way to help Atlantic City would be for two North Jersey casinos to send them $200 million a year in tax revenues.

Caputo told The Record that his goal is to enact legislation that would enable the casino legislation to move forward before the November election. It is not required that the legislation be approved before the election, according to the report.

The Senate approved legislation in January that would have put the question on the November ballot, but the Assembly did not vote on it so it was necessary to vote on and approve new legislation.