Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Imposes surcharge on casino hotel occupancies to fund public safety services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on January 6, 2022, with amendments.
An Act imposing a 1[temporary]1 surcharge on 1casino1 hotel occupancies 1[in certain cities] to fund public safety services, supplementing Title 5 of the Revised Statutes1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A surcharge at the rate of 1[$3] $21 per day for each occupied room shall be imposed on 1[hotels in each qualified municipality] a casino hotel facility1.
b. A surcharge imposed under subsection a. of this section shall be collected and administered by the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury. In carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the director shall have all the powers granted in P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.). The director shall determine and certify to the State Treasurer on a monthly basis the amount of revenues collected by the director pursuant to subsection a. of this section 1[in each qualified municipality]1. The State Treasurer, upon the certification of the director and upon the warrant of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury, shall pay and distribute on a monthly basis to the 1[qualified]1 municipality 1in which the casino hotel facility is located1 the amount so determined and certified.
c. All surcharges received by a 1[qualified]1 municipality pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall be deposited into a dedicated public safety services trust fund. Amounts deposited in the trust fund shall be used by 1[a qualified] the1 municipality solely and exclusively to fund appropriations for public safety services. The amount deposited into the dedicated public safety services trust fund shall be anticipated in the budget of 1[a qualified] the1 municipality as a special item of revenue and as an appropriation item of an amount equal to any such special item of revenue pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-87. The amount deposited into the public safety services trust fund shall be inserted into the annual budget as a special item of revenue or appropriation only when the total amount appropriated for public safety services in the adopted budget of 1[a qualified] the1 municipality for the current fiscal year is greater than the amount appropriated for public safety services, exclusive of any amount from the public safety services trust fund appropriated in the budget in the previous fiscal year. 1The amount appropriated and expended for the hiring and retention of employees of the fire and police departments shall not exceed 37 percent of all surcharge revenue received by the municipality and deposited into the dedicated public safety services trust fund in the period beginning January 1, 2022 and ending December 31, 2024. Beginning January 1, 2025, the Director of the Division of Local Government Services may set the maximum percentage of surcharge revenue received by the municipality that may be utilized for the hiring and retention of employees of the police and fire departments.1
d. As used in this section:
1[“Hotel” means a building or a portion of a building that is regularly used and kept open for the lodging of guests and includes a hotel, motel, inn, and rooming or boarding house, whether or not meals are served.]1
“Occupied room” means a room or rooms of any kind in any part of a hotel, other than a place of assembly, that is used or possessed by a guest or guests overnight or for a portion of a day, whether or not for consideration.
1[“Qualified municipality” means a municipality in which the provisions of P.L.1947, c.71 (C.40:48-8.15 et seq.) are operative on the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill).]1
“Public safety services” means the hiring, retention, and training of and equipment for employees of the police and fire departments 1, and capital improvements benefitting the police and fire departments,1 in 1[a qualified] the1 municipality 1authorized to receive surcharges pursuant to subsection a. of this section1.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the second month next following the date of enactment 1[and shall expire two years thereafter]1.