N.J. Admin. Code § 13:69A-9.1

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 13:69A-9.1 - General description of fees and policy

(a) An essential and integral element of the regulation and control of the casino and gaming industries in New Jersey rests on the public confidence and trust in the credibility and integrity of the regulatory process. Thus, the regulatory system prescribed by the Act is extraordinary, pervasive, and intensive and includes the exclusion from participation of persons with known criminal records, habits, or associations from the industry through comprehensive law enforcement supervision. In accordance with the policies of the Act, the Division and Commission are required to be financed exclusively from fees charged each fiscal year to applicants, licensees, and registrants. Generally, the Act divides fees into two broad categories: those pertaining to casino licenses, racetrack sports wagering licenses and Internet gaming, and sports wagering licenses and those pertaining to all other forms of licensure or approval. Section 139 of the Act requires the Division to establish, by regulation, fees for the issuance and retention of licenses. The statutory basis for the casino license issuance fee is the cost of investigation and consideration of the license application. The statutory basis for the casino license resubmission fee is the cost of maintaining the activities of the Division and the Commission. Likewise, the statutory basis of a racetrack sports wagering license issuance fee is the cost of investigation and consideration of the application, whereas the basis for the racetrack sports wagering license resubmission fee is the cost related to renewal and enforcement. Similar bases exist for the statutory Internet gaming and sports wagering provider license fees, in addition to the cost of supporting gambling addiction programs. In contrast, section 141 of the Act requires the Division to establish, by regulation, issuance and retention fees for all other gaming licenses, but indicates no cost basis for establishing such fees. Moreover, pursuant to section 141.1 of the Act, the Division may recoup the costs of services, equipment, or other expenses, including any unusual or out-of-pocket expenses directly related thereto, that are unrelated to the investigation or consideration of the issuance or renewal of a license or registration and are rendered, utilized, or incurred by the Division or Commission.

(b) The differing treatment of these categories reflects a legislative recognition and judgment that casino applicants and licensees, racetracks that host sports wagering facilities and activities, and Internet gaming and sports wagering providers benefit directly or indirectly from all aspects of the regulatory process and are best suited to bear the costs incurred by the agencies in implementing that process. Consistent with the policies of the Act, fees associated with Internet gaming and sports wagering are allocated to the substantial beneficiaries of such activity, as all Internet gaming and online sports wagering operations occur within casino facilities or other facilities owned or leased by a casino licensee or authorized racetrack sports wagering operator and it is equitable that those operators contribute to the support of the Division and Commission. Moreover, the actual cost of investigating and considering applications for individual employee licenses and non-Internet gaming and sports wagering casino service industry enterprise licenses frequently exceeds the amount that those applicants and licensees are required to pay as fees. The fee structure established by this subchapter is designed to respond to these policies and the issues inherently associated therewith and to provide more clarity and transparency to the casino licensees and racetracks that host sports wagering facilities and activities.

(c) To the extent fairly possible, each applicant or licensee should pay the investigatory or regulatory costs attributable to that applicant or licensee. However, since individual employees and non-Internet gaming and sports wagering casino service industry enterprises cannot always be expected to cover the full amount expended, there will be an amount of the annual combined budgets of the agencies that will not be recoverable through specified fees for particular services. This amount cannot be predicted with precision because of the necessarily variable allocation of Division and Commission efforts.

(d) Given the ability to recover the cost of conducting investigative and regulatory activities from initial and resubmission of casino license, racetrack sports wagering license, and Internet gaming and sports wagering license fees, and given the fact that all such activities are undertaken for the direct or indirect benefit or protection of casino, gaming, racetrack, Internet, and online operations, the obligation to supply additional funds necessary to recover the otherwise uncollected expenditures of the agencies should be allocated, as determined by the Division, among the licensed casino facilities and racetracks that host sports wagering facilities and activities.

(e) In the event that the Casino Control Fund has a surplus as of the close of a fiscal year, other than a surplus due to estimated payments against an expected deficiency, the surplus should be credited, to the extent possible, to the individual casino licensees and racetrack sports wagering licensees that made the surplus payments. Since, as noted at (c) above, fees charged to persons other than casino licensees, racetrack sports wagering licensees, and Internet gaming and sports wagering operations are no more than, and frequently less than, the actual cost of the investigatory and regulatory services actually attributable to them and since the casino licensees and racetrack sports wagering licensees, as well as the Internet gaming and sports wagering licensees related to them, through various hourly and other charges, contribute the overwhelming majority of all fees generated by the agencies, any surplus in the Casino Control Fund may be attributable to payments made by the casino licensees and racetrack sports wagering licensees. Further, since it is not feasible to ascertain precisely the source of the surplus due to the variety of charges levied against the casino licensees and the numerous variables affecting the revenues and expenditures of the agencies, it is reasonable and equitable to distribute the surplus by granting credit to the casino licensees and racetrack sports wagering licensees against future fee obligations and to allocate the credit among those licensees in proportion to the relative amount of total fees incurred or paid by each such licensee with respect to the fiscal year.

N.J. Admin. Code § 13:69A-9.1

Amended by 56 N.J.R. 38(a), effective 1/2/2024