Shorter decision deadline added to casino expansion bill

New Jersey lawmakers are considering a series of far-reaching changes for the seaside resort on Tuesday Jan. 12, 2016, including asking its casinos to pay more under a tax assistance bill.

That bill, passed Tuesday and sent to Republican Gov. Chris Christie, would require the casinos to make $50 million in additional payments over seven years and would share 13.5 percent of the money collected from the casinos with Atlantic County’s government and the city’s schools to help prevent tax increases for those entities.

Figures released Wednesday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show that the city’s eight casinos took in $2.56 billion in 2015.

“While 2015 was a transitional year, our eight casinos took in 3.1 percent more than in 2014”, said Matthew Levinson, chairman of the Casino Control Commission. Paul Sarlo, a Bergen County Democrat whose region could host one of two new casinos envisioned under the bill.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto of Secaucus in the north said it would not be easy getting three-fifths of the Assembly to approve a casino plan that returns significant revenue to Atlantic City’s struggling economy. A waterpark, Dreamworks amusement park, aquarium, Legoland, and the largest indoor ski slope in the Western Hemisphere, a casino would only add to the grandeur and contribute to the already staggering attendance numbers some are projecting $5 billion project will have when its complete in 2017.

That monopoly was once a much bigger advantage, but since other states have welcomed an increasing number of casinos, the market has been increasingly challenging. “It will take some explaining to voters to get them to see what kind of casino we envision so that people do not view this as gambling parlors opening up on street corners”. Lawmakers introduced a bill, sponsored by Sweeney, that would give the state power over Atlantic City’s government, including the right to sell city-owned assets including water, sewer, wastewater, and stormwater facilities.

“There aren’t enough of those gamblers to make up for the harm and the loss of revenue that will come out of Atlantic City”, Brown said. Overall revenue increased 0.6% year-on-year to reach $191.7 million. Full-year revenue at the casino amounted to $231.2 million, up 24.6% year-on-year.

He also said the state will expand a recovery coach program that connects counselors with addicts after they’re treated at hospitals when revived by the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, commonly known as Narcan.

The measure does not specify locations for the casinos, but the leading candidates thus far are the Meadowlands sports complex in East Rutherford, and Jersey City. Atlantic City’s casinos never quite bounced back from the last economic downturn, and 2014 and 2015, in particular, will be remembered as a dark period for a once-thriving industry, with four casino closures in the city. Both of the North Jersey casino licenses would be issued to an entity with an Atlantic City casino company as the majority operator. Ever-increasing competition in neighboring states is the largest single reason for the decline.