In this broadcast from Gaming Law News Radio, Duane Morris partner Gil Brooks discusses the long-running tax assessment dispute between the owners of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel and the city, which resulted in a reduction of the property’s assessed value by more than two-thirds (from $543 million to $165 million). He also touches on some of the other recent headlines coming from the Atlantic City market.
To listen to the broadcast, please visit the Gaming Law News Radio website.
A team of Duane Morris lawyers, led by Gil Brooks of the firm’s Cherry Hill office, helped the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel reach a settlement agreement with Atlantic City getting the casino a $19.5 million tax credit. The team representing RIH Acquisitions NJ, LLC, which owns and trades as Atlantic Club, included Duane Morris attorneys Frank Suglia, Cathy Sakach and George Kroculick, among others. The settlement approved by A.C.’s City Council after numerous property tax appeals in the Tax Court of New Jersey, reduces the casino’s taxable assessed value by more than two-thirds, from $543 million down to $165 million. The casino’s multimillion dollar tax credit will reportedly be delivered in some combination of cash payments and future credits.
To read articles on the settlement, please visit the Press of Atlantic City and NJBIZ.
Per the gaming revenue numbers released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, in March, Pennsylvania’s casinos achieved a new high in gross table games revenue. While this may have been expected due to the recent opening of the Valley Forge Casino Resort, the increase was primarily due to significant gross revenue increases at Harrah’s Chester Downs with close to $7.9 million in gross table revenue from 125 tables, Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem with $12.1 million in gross revenue from 152 tables and Parx Casino with $11 million in gross revenue from 183 tables. There were an average of 1,028 tables in operation across Pennsylvania in March, and they brought in gross revenue of $61.9 million. March’s table games revenues surpassed the previous all-time high for table games, when Pennsylvania casinos raked in $56.6 million with an average of 854 tables in February, 2012.
