The loss of four casinos and 8,000 jobs made 2014 a disastrous year for Atlantic City and now the resort needs a “year of healing” in 2015 according to the city’s mayor.
Fortunately, there are a number of signs that the city could be transforming itself away from its casino dependency.
“For 2015, I think it’s going to be a year of healing,” Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian told the Associated Press. “It’s a year of progress.”
A litany of projects are on the horizon, from new retail establishments in the city to the construction of family-friendly tourist attractions. The city may also make a push to become a better business conference and convention host.
Still, casinos will continue to struggle in the city and Guardian said he expects at least one more of the city’s remaining eight casinos to close. That could be the Trump Taj Mahal—which is on life support from a last-minute influx of cash from billionaire Carl Icahn—or possibly Caesars Entertainment’s Bally’s casino hotel, which continues to lose money.
Guardian has remained stalwart in the face of the casino closings, which have led to deep deficits in the city’s municipal budget.
“You just have to accept what happens,” he said. “It’s almost like, ‘Why does a flood occur, or why does a hurricane happen?'”
Instead, Guardian point to the signs of hope for the city band new projects being planned or currently under development.
Among them:
• An under-construction $126 million Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center is slated to hold its first major business conference in 2015,. Caesars Entertainment says it will be the largest, most technologically advanced meeting space from Boston to Baltimore.
• One of the city’s most nagging problems, the resort’s main tourist drag Pacific Avenue is scheduled for a complete repaving in the spring.
• Wasseem Boraie, of Boraie Development told the Press of Atlantic City that the company is going ahead with plans to build a 250-unit apartment complex on vacant land in the city’s South Inlet.
• Tropicana Atlantic City has announced a major renovation in 2015, which includes a huge video screen and an elaborate light and sound show on the Boardwalk.
• The former Showboat Casino Hotel is being converted into a city campus for the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The college, which bought Showboat for $18 million, also plans to run a hotel there.
• Bass Pro Shops plans to open a megastore this year at the base of the Atlantic City Expressway as part of the city’s successful—but rarely touted—outlet shopping district The Walk.
• A 220-foot, climate-controlled, wifi-equipped observation wheel will be part of a 30,000-square-foot expansion of Steel Pier planned for 2015.
Meanwhile, state officials are continuing to hammer out a legislative strategy to help turn around the city’s fortunes.
When Guardian came to office last year, he said the city needed a root canal.
“There’s no doubt it was a very painful root canal, and I am very sorry for the people that lost their jobs, and for the taxes that had to be increased,” he told the AP. “But just like when you get a whole mouth of teeth with a root canal and you’re happy you made that decision, the city will be happy with this three or four years down the road.”
At the same time, Atlantic City’s municipal government hopes to show the state of New Jersey that it is a reliable partner and can control its spending in the wake of spiraling casino tax declines.
The resort’s City Council has endorsed a financial recovery plan that calls for major layoffs and severe budget cuts to make the point. The city is hoping to head off any potential state plan for the city that would include a state-appointed manager.
“We have to show a united front in terms of working together from a state perspective,” Council President Frank Gilliam said. “We understand Atlantic City has been broken. We are looking for support from the state, but we still need to retain our sovereignty.”
The plan calls for tens of millions of dollars in cuts to the city’s $261 million budget as well as layoffs. Though the council endorsed the plan, it did not put it into effect as officials said some changes to specifics of the plan could still be made.
The state and Governor Chris Christie are considering a number of proposals to help the city’s finances and its struggling casino industry. One proposal would let casinos make reduced payments instead of property taxes for 15 years, and help the city reduce its debt.
The state has held two summits of community and business leaders as well as politicians to try and hammer out a plan to turn the city around as it continues to face increased competition from out-of-state casinos. Proposals to appoint a state overseer of the city came out of those summits.
“Clearly, property taxes are the major obstacle for progress in Atlantic City,” Guardian said in introducing the plan last month. “Atlantic City is not a burden on the state of New Jersey; Atlantic City remains the golden goose of the Garden State, but she is currently wounded. We need temporary help over the next few years.”
Meanwhile, elected officials in Atlantic County want to remind state legislators that when the county’s economic generator—Atlantic City—loses tax revenue, so does the county as a whole.
So the county Board of Freeholders—the county’s legislative body—has passed a resolution calling on the state Legislature to make sure county taxpayers are given equal consideration in any relief bills enacted to help Atlantic City.
A package of bills currently before the state Legislature would let Atlantic City casinos make reduced payments in lieu of taxes. While that will help stabilize the city’s taxes—which have been buffeted by falling casino tax assessments—the county tax board predicts the plan would raise taxes on Atlantic County home and business owners.
“Any proposed legislation or plan providing tax relief to casino gambling properties but not to non-casino gambling residents and businesses of Atlantic City could seriously, unfairly and negatively impact property taxpayers throughout the rest of Atlantic County,” the resolution read.
The resolution also notes that an alternative proposal from Chris Brown, a GOP assemblyman, to include tax relief for county taxpayers has yet to be introduced. Brown’s plan would freeze Atlantic City taxes for five years at 2014 levels on all taxable property, including casinos.
Despite Brown’s proposal, however, the state was ready to approve the in lieu of tax payment plan, but a vote was delayed as lawmakers wait to hear the fate of the bankrupt Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Legislators want the casino and its main union to come to an agreement before adopting the plan, but no agreement has been reached yet.
The casino was schedule to close in December, but is staying open for now under a $20 million loan from billionaire Carl Icahn, who owns most of the casino’s debt.
Four other Atlantic City casinos closed in 2014.
