Gov. Chris Christie on Friday ended a months-long battle over how the state can help Atlantic City, singing legislation that keeps the iconic seaside gambling resort from running out of money – but leaves open the possibility of a state takeover in the future.
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie reacts to a concern throughout a news conference after announcing the chairman of the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey had actually resigned, a day after an internal investigation cleared Christie in the “Bridgegate” scandal, throughout a news …
After months of delays and mutual recrimination between the city and state, the state Assembly and Senate approved an amended Atlantic City rescue package Thursday.
State lawmakers sent Christie two bills yesterday aimed at helping the resort through significant fiscal problems that have brought the city to the verge of bankruptcy, providing a bridge loan and other financial help.
The deal eliminates, for now, the threat of a state takeover.
Increased gambling competition in neighboring states has cut into Atlantic City’s main source of tax revenue, and the decline in casino property values since 2010 has lowered the tax base a whopping 70 percent.
“A billion dollars of construction will be breaking ground before the end of the summer in Atlantic City”, he said.
“My position on this has never wavered: bankruptcy can never be on the table for Atlantic City.”, said Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Voorhees), who had supported Sweeney’s plan from the start.
Mayor Don Guardian told KYW Newsradio he was not surprised by the quick action.
Resorts Casino Hotel President Mark Giannantonio made a grim prediction on Thursday that the two new proposed casinos for northern New Jersey near New York City will cause three to five of the eight surviving casinos to close, and potentially destroy Atlantic City. The city government has five months to draw up plans to balance its books over the next five years.
“This is a compromise that we have worked out together”, Prieto said.
Atlantic City will get temporary loans of $30 million for the remainder of this year; $30 million to be applied to leftover 2015 debt, and another $15 million for 2017. The city also would be able to get at least $120 million each year from casinos under a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan that would last for 10 years.
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It also could offer early retirement to its workers and retain its collective bargaining rights. The state still has the power to do that, but its Community Affairs department would first have to determine that the plan Atlantic City formulates is not capable of delivering the desired effect. Four of the city’s 12 casinos closed, others successfully appealed their property assessments, and the value of the city’s ratables plunged from over $20 billion to less than $7 billion.
