Legislative Assistance Package For Atlantic City Clears Assembly
By David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) - The New Jersey Assembly Thursday passed a series of bills aimed at helping Atlantic City through its ongoing financial crisis in light of last year's closures of four casinos and the subsequent loss of 8,000 jobs.
Local Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo calls this a stop gap measure to allow Atlantic City to re-image itself:
"We're working diligently to change Atlantic City into a more family friendly resort destination. But that work will obviously take some time."
The package will allow the eight remaining casinos to make lump sum real estate tax payments totaling $120-million a year for the next 15 years...assuming revenues remain level.
"Reducing the massive property tax burden on families and businesses is a top priority," Mazzeo says. "This legislation will bring real reform to Atlantic City and Atlantic County to help stabilize the tax base and bring new investment and business to the region."
Other measures provide extra state financial help for the school district, mandate employee benefit levels at the casinos and divert casino investment taxes to help pay down debt.
The package now goes to the senate. Governor Christie has yet to take a stand on it.