Atlantic City may be out from under one of its biggest financial drains as the state announced it has settled all of the resort’s pending casino tax appeal cases.
Governor Chris Christie said the state—which controls the city’s finances—has settled tax cases with seven of the city’s casinos. They are Bally’s, Caesars, Harrah’s, the Golden Nugget, Tropicana and the shuttered Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza casinos.
The amounts of the settlements were not released, but Christie said an $80 million bond ordinance adopted by Atlantic City will cover the costs.
Christie, who pushed for the state’s takeover of the city’s finances late last year, called the settlements proof of the takeover’s effectiveness saying they were “the culmination of my administration’s successful efforts to address one of the most significant and vexing challenges that had been facing the city.”
“Because of the agreements announced today, casino property tax appeals no longer threaten the city’s financial future,” Christie said.
The settlements come about six months after the state settled the largest of the tax appeal cases with Borgata casino. The casino was owed $165 million in tax judgements, but settled for $72 million.
As the city’s casino industry started to decline in the late 2000s due to increased competition in neighboring states, tax appeals by city casinos became a major draw on the city’s finances. Both lost ratables and judgements to repay back taxes contributed to the city amassing about $500 million in debt.
Jeffrey Chiesa, who was appointed by Christie to oversee the city’s finances, said Atlantic City was “overwhelmed by millions of dollars of crushing casino tax appeal debt that they hadn’t unraveled” when the state took control in the fall. He said the city now has “a plan in place to finance this debt that responsibly fits within its budget,” according to a report at NJ.com.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian told NJ.com that the settlements were “more good news for Atlantic City taxpayers that we have been working towards since 2014. When everyone finally works together for the best interest of Atlantic City’s taxpayers and residents, great things can happen.”
