The New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has adopted a $6.7 million budget which focuses funds on social and development projects in the resort.
The budget is 10 percent higher than last year, which officials attributed to medical benefits and payroll increases, said CRDA Executive Director Matt Doherty.
“Keeping the CRDA on firm financial foundation allows us to continue to fund meaningful community projects while engaging potential new investors in attractions and events,” Doherty said in a press release.
The budget includes funding for an additional 45 Class II police officers on Pacific and Atlantic avenues and money matching a grant for a street landscaping on Tennessee Avenue. The budget also includes monies to facilitate and coordinate state recommendations to help lessen the state’s role in running the city and give financial power back to local government.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has created an Atlantic City Coordinating Council, chaired by Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, which will look at issues related to Atlantic City’s economic development, public safety and public heath, among others.
“The Atlantic City Coordinating Council will bring together state agencies to collaborate on efforts to reinvigorate Atlantic City and help it rise once again on the path to local control,” Murphy said in a press release.
CRDA officials echoed that goal.
“The budget actions that we’re asking the board to take today I believe reflect sound business practice and the commitment to fulfilling Gov. Phil Murphy’s vision for a new prosperity in Atlantic City,” said Board Chairman Robert Mulcahy in a press statement. “The CRDA and the state are delivering quality-of-life improvements while also encouraging greater private investment.”
Also, CRDA’s Convention Center Division, which also oversees Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, has a budget of $9.475 million for 2019. The 2019 marketing budget is proposed at $5.14 million, with the potential for $5.7 million in revenue generation from local taxes, advertising sales and an additional tax on sports betting, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
CRDA also approved a plan by Showboat Atlantic City owner Bart Blatstein to convert 400 hotel rooms in the now non-casino hotel into 264 market-rate rental units. The Showboat would continue to have 785 hotel rooms under the plan.
Construction on the Showboat conversion project will start in December and is scheduled to be completed by the end of May.
