After waiting more than two years for a decision from the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division, the unpublished opinion Monday to vacate two previous decisions in the PILOT lawsuit is “a travesty,” Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said.
The Appellate Court did not disagree with the earlier decisions of Judge Joseph Marczyck and Judge Michael Blee that found the state of New Jersey had violated a 2018 consent settlement regarding the casinos’ payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT payments, to Atlantic County.
“It only questioned the process,” Levinson said in a statement. “The Appellate Court never indicated the trial court made a mistake, but rather the procedure was flawed because it relied on certified legal affidavits as opposed to sworn testimony. I am told that in 99 percent of similar cases, certified affidavits are the norm, not the exception.”
Levinson characterized the appeals court ruling as “yet another tactic to delay an inevitable decision.”
“But what I find most disturbing is the unnecessary burden and cost to our taxpayers,” he stated. “We have spent a small fortune to fight for what is rightfully ours. In 2018 we reached a $30 million consent agreement in our favor. And we are currently owed more than $14 million for years 2022 through 2024.”
Levinson said that the longer the litigation drags on, the more costly it becomes.
“The people of Atlantic County are getting ripped off, and I’m not going to stand for it,” he said. “Casinos are an economic boon to the entire state. Why should Atlantic County taxpayers singlehandedly be responsible to pay the tax break for casinos?”
Levinson maintained that the dispute could have been settled two years ago, “but the state refused to ever speak to us despite calls for both parties to mediate.”
He criticized the state for having “such little respect for the citizens of Atlantic County.”
“How much longer will Atlantic County taxpayers be denied millions of dollars in casino tax payments that help fund essential social service programs for our residents?” he said.
