New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY › Chapter 69A - APPLICATIONS › Subchapter 9 - FEES › Section 13:69A-9.1 - General description of fees and policy

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(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.