Troublesome Taxes
In some neat reporting that came out after the Roundup published on Friday, the Press of Atlantic City’s Christian Hetrick discovered that, in spite of all the hullabaloo over the county getting a lower cut of casino taxes, the casinos will actually pay a half-million more this year to the county. Read it here. But Atlantic County’s administrator said its municipalities are still facing tax hikes because there is a tax credit owed to the city for taxes the casinos overpaid in previous years. In response, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA) snippily advised the county to check its math (the DCA is overseeing the Atlantic City takeover).
Fishing on Brigantine beach, via Connie Pyatt.
Immigration Arrests
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested an undocumented immigrant in a Middlesex courthouse last week. That was in spite of the top New Jersey judge’s request that ICE stop this practice, because it could make witnesses, victims and defendants feel less safe. Read the details, by Matt Katz for NJSpotlight.
Better News
Everyone likes to complain about how bad the quality of their local news is these days. There have been job cuts and advertising is no longer paying the overheads of local TV, radio or news organizations. A lot of stories that people care about go uncovered. We’re trying to do something about that by focusing on stories that you don’t see anywhere else and by building a community of readers who are invested in their local news, in part because they contribute to funding it (become a Route 40 member!) There is also a statewide project to take money from selling two public broadcasting licenses and reinvest that in New Jersey journalism. Read more about that here via Matt Skoufalos at NJPen (Matt is a colleague of ours in the fantastic Center for Cooperative Media, an organization that supports local news in New Jersey).
In the rest of the news from the weekend and this morning, the passenger of a car that crashed into Atlantic City’s bay yesterday is still in critical condition, LoBiondo didn’t think the American Health Care Act was “right for the district,” Atlantic County has the fourth-highest prevalence of AIDS and HIV in the state: read about the AIDS walk and local efforts to support victims, where the animals feast on beer leftovers, and read about plans to add housing and a gas station across from Historic Smithville. All that and more below:
New Jersey’s Casino Tax Rate Lower Than Surrounding States–Atlantic City's casino industry paid $237 million in taxes last year, a fraction of what the industry pays in other states. Casino revenue in the state funds programs including prescription drug subsidies, housing assistance and transportation. Press of Atlantic City
Cape May-Lewes Ferry’s Free Rides Bring Crowds–Cape May-Lewes Ferry officials decided to commemorate National Tourism Day in a way that benefited neighbors and the ferry. With a reservation, adult residents with photo identification from ZIP codes in Cape May or Sussex County, Delaware, received one free round-trip foot journey Sunday. Press of Atlantic City
GOP Trumpcare Victory Bad for Elderly, Sick, State Budgets — Critics Aver–More half a million New Jersey residents could lose their health insurance, another 1.3 million Medicaid members could face more limited benefits, and hundreds of thousands of working-poor patients could find themselves paying more for coverage — or priced out of the market entirely — according to policy analysts who have reviewed the Republican healthcare plan that advanced Thursday. www.njspotlight.com
Interactive Map: NJ Water Systems Out of Compliance with Federal Standards–New Jersey had the fourth-largest number of people getting water from systems in violation of federal standards in 2015, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. www.njspotlight.com
Airmen from the 177th return from South Korea–EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — A few hundred airmen from the 177th Air National Guard base returned Sunday night from the Osan Air Base in South Korea, where they were deployed since Feb. 5. Press of Atlantic City