Judge to order mediation in casino lawsuit

A Superior Court judge has said he will order mediation in the lawsuit Atlantic County has filed against the state of New Jersey to stop the new casino payments-in-lieu-of-taxes law from taking effect.

Judge Joseph Marczyk, to whom the case was referred, said yesterday that he will order mediation “as soon as possible” and told all parties to begin considering possible mediators.

The county will lose about $4m a year under the new PILOT law, if enacted, the state Office of Legislative Services has estimated. The county says the loss is more like $5m to $7m.

Marczyk said the case “involves important matters of public policy and complex financial issues and calculations” and he needed to collect more information before making such a decision.

Source: The Press of Atlantic City