NJ.com – Gov. Chris Christie’s administration admitted Tuesday it had overplayed its hand on online gambling, drastically overestimating the amount the state would bring in during the first year.
Christie had proposed a spending plan last year that anticipated a $200 million increase in tax revenue from the casinos, almost all of it from the legalization of internet betting that began in November.
State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff later cut Christie’s estimated increase to $160 million. But Tuesday he conceded even that was far too high, and now expected just a $34 million rise in casino tax revenue for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
“We were told by the industry at the time that the introduction of online gaming would help energize Atlantic City’s ongoing recovery,” Sidamon-Eristoff said.
He said he remained “bullish” on internet betting in the future, “but clearly this hasn’t met our expectations for the first fiscal year.”
And next year won’t be much better either with the budget Christie unveiled Tuesday — a $55 million increase in casino revenue.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), the Legislature’s prime supporter of internet betting, said he always thought the governor’s projections were too ambitious.
Lesniak said he anticipated the state would make about $60 million in tax revenue from online betting because it was set to start five months into the fiscal year and would need time to build momentum.
“The governor just ignored those sensible economic thoughts,” Lesniak said. “He totally threw them out the window.”
