Chiba: Can Sports Betting Lower New Jersey Property Tax?
Ask anyone living in the state of New Jersey why they voted for Chris Christie as Governor of the state and the majority of residents will tell you it had everything to do with former Governor Corzine's failure to keep his promise of lowering property taxes.
New Jersey property taxes are among the highest in the nation. New Jersey residents paid 11.8%, topping the charts. Many of my family members emigrated to New Jersey from their native India paying for their homes in cash then realizing we have to pay what practically amounts to a mortgage when you consider the value of properties in Northern New Jersey.
I'm not sure if corruption plays a part. It's certainly well embedded in local NJ politics over the decades. But consider the hypocrisy. Law enforcement are among the most stringent in the state. My three brothers wives get pulled over all the time for driving with their husband's driver's licenses since they don't have their own yet Governor Corzine can drive around without a seat belt and nothing happens and not be cited.
The trust in state politicians is not there and that could be why a recent poll suggests that many of the state's residents are unsure as to whether Governor Christie can indeed lower state property taxes.
"The public has spoken, Governor Christie," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "You are hereby expected to defy expectations."
More than 50 percent of those surveyed said they are at least somewhat confident Christie will get that job done. But 62 percent said they will be very upset if he cuts spending on education, and another 54 percent said they will very upset if he cuts programs that help the poor, according to the poll of 803 state residents, which was conducted in late January.
Enter legalized sports betting in the state and a lawsuit/bill filed by State Senator Raymond Lesniak along with an emerging political activist group in the vain of the ACLU, The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association founded by a former American Online exec and First Amendment protectionist, Joe Brennan, Jr.
Sen. Lesniak's sports betting lawsuit to overturn the federal ban on sports betting could pump upwards of $100 million in tax revenue into state coffers, and spur increased development (read: jobs) in the Atlantic City.
I am urging Governor Christie to get on board and support this legislation and lawsuit. This could be the only hope for lowering property taxes in New Jersey.
What exactly is the reason we can't have sports betting in the state?
Is it amoral?
More than half the US population will be betting on this upcoming Super Bowl at barely legal websites run by people with accents worse than mine in third world countries that most of us can't even find on a map such as Isle of Man and Gibraltar (Who the hell wants to live on some rock with no vegetation?)
Some of the better run online sports betting ventures based in the Switerland-like paradise of Costa Rica provide the model for what legalized sports betting in New Jersey will ultimately become. The money they have generated for that nation over the past 10 years is enormous, in the billions, and some couple thousand citizens are employed by the industry.
There is a saying in India:
Dani kal parakhyo, gay ne phagan mah.bahu nay jas din parakhye, jab dhan palley na:
"He who helps in need is great, the cow who gives milk even in April (in summers) is good and women are judged when there is no money."
New Jersey needs money. New Jersey needs legalized sports betting Governor Christie.
Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
