New Jersey’s fiscal control of Atlantic City will continue under a recommendation from a special counsel appointed by Governor Phil Murphy.
The report from the counsel, Jim Johnson said that government, civic engagement and community partnerships still must improve in the resort. Murphy said he is still reviewing the independent report, but said he agreed with its conclusions.
“This report goes beyond Atlantic City’s finances and outlines tasks to address chronic issues so that everyone can share in the new opportunities emerging in the city,” Murphy said in a press statement. “Without a doubt, positive things are happening in Atlantic City. However, if we want to see today’s progress endure long into the future, we have to tackle longstanding challenges such as poverty, unemployment, affordable housing and public health. Most importantly, we must invest in the people who live and work here.”
The report recommends the state continue overseeing Atlantic City through 2021 as originally set by state law while working with local entities to enhance the resort’s outlook, according to the Press of Atlantic City. Murphy had said during his fall election campaign that he wanted to end the state’s control of the city.
The state first moved to takeover the resort’s finances in 2016 as the city faced massive municipal debt and was being rocked by casino’s challenging—and winning—their tax assessments. Under state law the casino agreed to make payments in lieu of taxes and cease making tax challenges.
The report was also critical of the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which is charged with using specially assessed casino funds to redevelop the city. The report found that the authority focused too much on tourism and not enough on quality of life issues.
The report found that the authority “had not lived up to its potential” and “made investment choices that often had little to do with the core interests of the city.”
“Much of public policy in and about Atlantic City has been hampered by two things: one, a lack of coordination, particularly between CRDA and the city and, two, a single-minded focus on bold, even singular solutions,” according to the report.
The report lists several recommendations for the city.
“In order to accomplish these initiatives, Atlantic City must reject approaches based on silos and silver bullets and work to develop in a broad, inclusive and comprehensive way,” Johnson said in the report. “Stakeholders in the city will have to do many things well, but they don’t have to do them all at once.”
According to the Press, the report’s recommendations include:
• Focusing on the fundamentals of local government by building the capacity and talent of municipal employees through training and better technology to deliver essential services, respond to constituent concerns, collect more revenue and plan for development and growth
• Building a diverse economy by supporting the stability of the gaming industry, developing jobs with the potential for growth and higher wages, supporting the health of small businesses and creating career ladders within the casino industry
• Improving amenities that affect residents’ quality of life and can attract new residents by developing strategic projects such as a food market, walkable neighborhoods, and after-school and summer programs for children
• Enhancing the city’s strengths by using the network of neighborhood civic associations, arts organizations and cultural institutions, introducing non-partisan community engagement tools and building a community collaboration database
• Addressing social challenges and creating pathways to opportunity by providing support for households facing foreclosure, rehabbing vacant and abandoned homes and selling them to working families at affordable prices, tackling public health issues such as infant mortality and obesity, identifying state grant programs to support the city’s youth, and developing training programs to prepare unemployed residents for work
The transitional report’s review team also proposed the creation of a state coordinating council to implement the recommendations and keep people “on task and accountable for results,” the Press said.
City officials said that in response to the report, the CRDA zoning office—the authority controls development in the city’s tourism zone—will move to the resort’s City Hall to help streamline the development approval process.
Also, Moody’s Investor Services, reacting to the report, said the continued state control of the resort was a credit positive, but warned that the city could not continue to make progress without the state’s intervention.
“While the continued oversight is a credit positive, the city is far from being financially secure,” the Moody’s report said. “The (Johnson) report, which has received preliminary approval from the governor and is being reviewed in detail, lays out a strong vision for the future. But the devil is in the details and it remains for the city, state and CRDA to demonstrate that they can turn this vision into a sound plan. Even then, a plan is only as good as its execution.”
The state report also comes after the city’s casino industry enjoyed one of its best summers in recent memory. According to an analysis by the Press, compared to summer 2017, the number of visitors to the resort increased by more than 260,000, the casino industry employed nearly 6,700 more people and gaming revenue was up by $54.8 million.
“The summer of 2018 was the best summer in recent years for Atlantic City,” said Kevin Ortzman, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and regional president for Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s Atlantic City properties. “Casinos saw significant gains this summer in employees, visitors and gaming revenue. This growth demonstrates that the casino industry’s investment in Atlantic City’s transformation into a first-class resort and business conference destination is working.”
