Judge hears casino PILOT injunction request, will rule in weeks
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ATLANTIC CITY — Superior Court Judge Joseph Marczyk will issue a written decision within weeks on whether he will stop the new casino payment-in-lieu-of-taxes law from taking effect, while Atlantic County's legal challenge to it is heard, he said Tuesday.
Marczyk made the statement after hearing oral arguments from both the county and the state on the county's request for a preliminary injunction.
The county is challenging an amended PILOT law, which passed quickly in December and was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy days before Christmas, that drastically lowered casinos' PILOT payments. It did so mainly by removing sports and internet gaming from calculations of gross gaming revenue.
The changes in the law violate a 2018 consent order settlement of the county's lawsuit against the original 2016 PILOT, according to the county. The amendments also will provide the county with $15 million to $26 million less through 2026 than following the consent order under the original law.
John Lloyd, the lawyer for the state, argued the Legislature had the right to define "gross gaming revenue" in any way it saw fit, at any time, in spite of the 2018 consent agreement between the county and the state.
"Here’s my concern regarding gross gaming revenue … under your argument ... you could have determined gross gaming revenue should be calculated to include only penny slots or not include slot machines," Marczyk told Lloyd, asking whether the state could even define it down to zero if it so chose. "Or to exclude a new slot machine that is going through the roof, analogous to internet and sports gaming. Is that your argument?"
