CHRISTINA M. RENNA

April 19, 2025

 When revenue needs to be raised to plug budget gaps and mask overspending, government often looks to so-called “sin taxes” as an easy solution. Sin taxes are levies on any vice or product deemed harmful or morally questionable, and are politically attractive because they generate large sums of money without raising more far-reaching taxes, such as property taxes or income taxes.

In the proposed fiscal year 2026 state budget, Gov. Phil Murphy taps many of the sin taxes to raise revenue. Those proposals include an increase in the alcoholic beverage tax, cigarette tax and cannabis taxes, to name a few. While any tax increase will make New Jersey less affordable and less competitive, the proposal that caused the most concern was a significant increase in the internet gaming (15%) and online sports wagering (13%) tax rates to 25% in both cases.

As the region’s largest and most influential business organization, the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey is laser-focused on the sustainability and growth of the South Jersey economy, and the preservation and growth of jobs for our residents. This is why we are actively fighting to ensure this tax increase does not become a reality.

This reckless tax increase proposal will have significant adverse consequences for Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar casinos, which recently reported a 9% decrease in profits in 2024. According to the 2023 New Jersey Casino Control Commission annual report, Atlantic City’s gaming properties employ 22,643 people, of which 19,793 are from Atlantic County. The remaining 2,800 jobs nearly all come from the seven most southern counties of New Jersey, meaning the health of the region’s economy falls squarely on the back of Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar casinos.

As a result, any proposal that has the potential to hurt Atlantic City’s gaming industry, and specifically its nine casino properties that employ thousands of people, should be a non-starter for statewide policymakers. It is unfortunate to see legislators, including Sen. John McKeon, who represents parts of Essex and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey, state publicly that the casino industry is not paying their “fair share” of internet gaming and online sports wagering. Such a statement highlights the senator’s unfamiliarity with the industry as a whole, the unique partnerships between online gaming companies and Atlantic City’s casinos, and why internet gaming and sports betting are so crucial to the industry’s survival.

This tax increase also comes at a time of nationwide economic uncertainty. Undoubtedly, this uncertainty will lead to a dip in consumer spending and gambling, both online and in brick-and-mortar facilities, which is often one of the first things to go when people pinch pennies. Importantly, an increase in the taxation rate on sports betting and internet gaming could also encourage individuals to explore the “dark market” — online sites that pay no taxes and have none of the protections in place for gamblers.

Gov. Murphy is betting on a bad idea when it comes to internet gaming and online sports wagering tax increases. Not only the health of the casino industry, but the health of South Jersey’s economy and the employment status of more than 20,000 local residents rest on this proposal failing in June.

Christina M. Renna is the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey.