NJ may boost tax in World Cup area
Visitors would help offset $307M spending
By: Katie Sobko
and colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Dear 2026 FIFA World Cup visitors: Very little in the Garden State is certain except taxes and surcharges.
.....
State Senator Paul Sarlo has introduced legislation proposing tax increases, surcharges and fees during more than five weeks this spring and summer [2026] that, if approved, would help the state recoup some of the hundreds of millions of dollars it has invested to host, secure and accommodate the world's biggest sports spectacle.
..... The bill would increase the sales tax within the Meadowlands District - an area defined by state statue that includes Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Little Ferry, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, North Arlington, Ridgefield, Rutherford, South Hackensack and Teterboro in Bergen County and Jersey City Hudson County - during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
..... Chris Eilert, who serves as chief of staff for Sarlo, said in a statement that the state is "incurring significant costs for public safety and security for hosting the Wold Cup games in the Meadowlands."
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"If the state can recoup those costs by assessing fees on the entities sponsoring and producing the games, and on the people attending the games, then that should be something the administration pursues," Eilert said.
..... The bill include a hotel and motel occupancy surcharge of 2.5% from June 12 to July 21 [2026] for hotels outside of Atlantic, Monmouth, Ocean and Cape May counties, and a 3% increase to New Jersey's state sales tax for "tangible personal property," prepared food, soft drinks and alcohol, and admission to the "place of amusement."
..... The bill would add 50 cents on "prearranged" transportation rides to or from the Meadoowlands. There would also be a 10% surcharge for gambling on the World Cup, paid by casinos or joint sports wagering operations, to go to the Casino Revenue Fund.
..... New Jersey residents would be allowed to claim a credit on their taxes for anything they were charged in relation to the bill.
..... New Jersey taxpayers have already spent or contracted at least $307 million, according to documents obtained by
NorthJersey.com , for work in and around MetLife Stadium where eight matches including the tournament final, will be played.
..... That includes nearby $16 million - $15,998,602 to be exact - to modify the field at MetLife Stadium to meet the paying for a new pedestrian bridge at the sports complex, expected to cost $33.5 million by the time it is completed; providing a 415 million loan to the regional host committee, to be paid back by the end of 2026; and a transway still in the works at NJ Transit.
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A temporary bus terminal is being constructed at MetLife Stadium to assist with shuttling the vast majority of the 82,000 fans expected to attend matches.
..... The estimated cost of construction
for the transitway is around $00 million, with some of the money that had been earmarked for the terminal being used to obtain access to a property nearby where buses can be stored. The state Transpiration Department has also paid $35 million for NJ Transit to develop designs for expanding its transit system to serve the venue.
..... Trenton lawmakers also distracted $77.3 million to a New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority fund for :International Events, Improvements & Attractions" over the last four state budgets. the bid for the matches to be played in East Rutherford was part of a partnership between the state of New Jersey and New York City. The host city obligations are the responsibility of both New Jersey and New York City, and officials have previously said costs would be split with New York City.
..... There is still no formal agreement in place with New York City.
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News of the tax and surcharge bill was first reported by Politico.