3. There is created a public body corporate and politic, with corporate succession, to be known as the “Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority.” The authority is constituted as an instrumentality of the State exercising public and essential governmental functions, and the exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by this act shall be an essential government function of the State. For the purposes of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, the authority is allocated within the Department of the Treasury, but, notwithstanding the allocation, the authority shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department or any officer or employee thereof.

L.1981, c.459, s.3; amended 2008, c.47, s.7.