The package of bills sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, passed both houses of the legislature and have sat on Christie’s desk since June, the start of another tourist season hinging on the success of casinos surviving amid bankrupt and otherwise shuttered competitors.
In the three decades since gambling was legalized in the town, its residents have “faithfully and continually fulfilled their obligation” to return billions of dollars in tax revenue, chamber president Joe Kelly said in a statement. That commitment is unwavering despite difficult challenges, he added.
“In conjunction with those efforts, the governor by signing the package of bills on his desk will allow promises made to the seniors and disabled years ago can continue to be fulfilled, and the process of stabilization and revitalization of the Atlantic City gaming and tourist market can move forward," Kelly said.
The legislation is under review, Christie spokesman Brian T. Murray told Law360.
At the heart of the five-bill rescue package is a plan that would require casinos to make payments in lieu of taxes based on gambling revenue the casinos generate, the bill's sponsors said.
The four other companion bills that lawmakers have said would stabilize Atlantic City’s fiscal health include one that would require casinos to pay the city based on gambling revenues instead of a property tax assessment; another that would require casinos to provide proof they are providing “suitable” health care and retirement benefits to employees; a third that would provide additional state money to the city’s struggling public schools; and lastly, a measure that would reallocate a casino tax that’s being used for redevelopment projects to help the city pay debt service on municipal bonds.
The chamber’s call echoes one made in August by the seven members of the Casino Association of New Jersey, who questioned why the governor has yet to sign off on a package of bills that he himself requested months ago. They noted that the city and its businesses can't afford to wait any longer for legislation allowing casinos to make payments in lieu of property taxes for 15 years, a measure they say would help the whole city recover financially.
Twelve casinos made up 70 percent of annual property taxes in Atlantic City as of 2013, but competition from surrounding states and other factors have left the city with eight operating casinos and a tax base that dropped from $20.5 billion in 2010 to $7.3 billion.
Last year saw the closure four casinos, amounting to an estimated 8,000 lost jobs and leaving only eight to generate gaming revenue in the face of competition from neighboring New York and Pennsylvania.
Ceasars Entertainment Corp. unloaded the closed Atlantic Club Casino Hotel to Florida-based hotel operator TJM Properties Inc. in May 2014, about six months after a Caesars unit picked it up in a Chapter 11 auction.
That September, Revel Hotel Casino closed its doors just a little more than a year after the much-hyped venue filed for Chapter 11 protection. Business Tycoon Glenn Straub hopes his legal battle with the venue's energy supplier won't delay its 2016 relaunch.
Trump Entertainment Resorts filed bankruptcy the same month Revel closed and shuttered Trump Plaza shortly afterward. In December, Caesars sold Atlantic City's Showboat Casino to Stockton University. The property became ensnared in a deed dispute and has since been acquired by Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein.
Christie in January tapped an emergency manager for the city, after which Moody’s Investors Service slashed the municipality's bond rating.
In May, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian spoke out against bankruptcy as an option for his municipality as it tries to evolve past an over-reliance on casino revenue.
--Additional reporting by Jonathan Randles, Martin Bricketto and Alex Wolf. Editing by Philip Shea.
