New Jersey will no longer have the distinction of possessing the second-lowest casino tax rate if Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D, left) gets his way. He’s talking about imposing at least 
a 40% levy on proposed north New Jersey casinos, perhaps as much as 60%. Atlantic City casinos would continue to enjoy their 8% rate. Blame it on Jeff Gural. The owner of Meadowlands Racetrack volunteered to pay as much as 55% for a Hard Rock International casino at his track. Caputo’s going to run into opposition in the state Senate, where Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) favors a lower tax rate, bearing in mind that prospective operators are expected to make a $1 billion capital commitment to their projects.
“What you’re saying is in this oversaturated market, the answer is to add casinos to the market,” Assemblyman Chris Brown (R) told Caputo of his bill to break Atlantic City’s monopoly on casino gambling. “Doesn’t that just prove the point that the uncertainty in the market is what has been holding Atlantic City back,” queried Brown, referring to Carl Icahn‘s sudden reluctance to recapitalize Trump Taj Mahal. Indeed, this whole rush to build destination casinos in Jersey City and the Meadowlands smacks of destroying the village in order to save it.
In a parallel development, Waveland, Mississippi, is seeking to grab a larger tranche of Silver Slipper Casino revenue by annexing the surrounding part of Hancock County. Needless to say, the county is less than thrilled with this move.
* Gural may not have the best casino in New York State but he’ll have the first of four new ones. He’s topped off his expansion of Tioga Downs and aims to have its slots and 
50 table games up and running by summer. As Gural puts it, “The other guys are just getting started.” After all, much of Tioga Downs’ infrastructure was in place, so Gural’s task was more one of expansion than creation. Said Gural, “that was always one of the more annoying parts of not getting a license the first time: that we could open this place so quickly.” Coming off a 5% revenue increase in January, Tioga Downs recently its first-ever day of $5 million in wagers and its first $4 million Friday. All the breaks seem to be going Gural’s way.
* Florida‘s Miccosukee Tribe gave the finger to the IRS in a recent tribal election, reinstating former Chairman Billy Cypress who’s got problems with the tax man himself. The tribe’s general council gave sitting Chairman Colley Billie the boot for attempting to broker a settlement between the Miccosukee and the IRS. Payment of the arrearage cost the tribe $82 million. It was also alleged that Billie was mismanaging the tribal casino. Cypress doesn’t exactly have clean hands himself, having been accused of pilfering casino profits to the tune of $26 million.
The Miccosukee’s problems with the IRS stem from never having filed a “revenue allocation.” As a result, tribal members are on the hook for $280 million in income tax on their per-capita distributions from the casino and other tribal businesses. The tribal government itself owes $262 million in withholding and a back-breaking $441 million in fines and interest. Tribal gaming has its detractors and, unfortunately, the Miccosukee are acting as the poster boy for the perceived problem.
* Hosting a friendly game of poker is now illegal in the Netherlands, where the sport has been deemed a game of chance. But it’s a foul wind indeed that doesn’t blow somebody some good and state-owned Holland Casino now has a monopoly on the game.
