Atlantic City to Pay Hard Rock Tax Appeal Money

Despite the original claim that all tax appeals by casinos in Atlantic City had been settled back in 2017, this gambling hub in “Garden State” New Jersey is due to cash out $4.8 million in a property tax appeal settlement to Hard Rock International.

The said price is going to be paid yearly in $1.2 million installments over a four-year period, beginning in 2020. This is according to Lisa M. Ryan, spokeswoman for the Department of Community Affairs.

Hard Rock is the owner of the former Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort which was refurbished and revamped into Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, opened last summer.

“They Can Do Whatever They Want”

Atlantic County will be paying 8% of the total amount – much to dismay of County Executive, Dennis Levinson, who says they were told that this was already completely settled: “They can do whatever they want right now, as long as the cost is not ed along to county taxpayers.”

2017’s casino tax appeals that actually have been settled, totaled $80 million…

…and Atlantic City did bond, although – as Ryan explains – the 2017 appeal was not able to be included in the $80 million bond the city approved in August 2017 because of the timing of Hard Rock’s property purchase and “the work that needed to be done to get the casino into the payment in lieu of taxes agreement for casinos (PILOT).”

The tax appeal was, interestingly enough, filed in by former owner of Trump Taj Mahal, billionaire, Carl Icahn – who is now related to purchases of stocks in Caesars Entertainment. Hard Rock acquired this venue in early 2017.

A Distrust is Earned

Levison further added that settlement was “signed, sealed and delivered in Superior Court” and added:

“Of course it would have made us negotiate differently had the county known there was still a tax appeal to be settled.”

That particular settlement gave the county 13.5% of PILOT payments for the decade-long agreement. Mr Ryan stated that after the case of Hard Rock. there are no remaining tax appeal issues for any casinos, to which Levinson dejectedly replied:

“You are telling me this time that you really, really, really mean it? And we should trust that?”

Hard Rock representatives did not want to comment on the tax appeal settlement.

No Time to Count the Cash

Las Vegas-based titan of the gambling industry is busy on various different fronts…

…one of them being the radically changed gaming landscape of Japan, as Asia’s prosperous country awaits for the arrival of its first integrated casino resort (out of three or four planned). Hard Rock went ahead and outdid themselves…

…by presenting a detailed plan of what their future resort would look like should they be chosen for one of the land-based licenses.

Elsewhere – and closer to our original story – Hard Rock in New Jersey is teaming up with Game Innovations Group for a scheduled launch of a sportsbook in the first quarter of the year.

The full package of services that Hard Rock is expecting to receive includes GiG Sports Connect, GiG Goal and GiG Trader.

Source:

“New $4.8M tax appeal settlement related to Hard Rock purchase”, Michelle Brunetti, pressofatlanticcity.com, January 22, 2019.