Atlantic City on its death bed?

The financial woes of Atlantic City appear terminal with the once thriving gaming hub on the verge of bankruptcy.

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian told the New Jersey State League of Municipalities conference earlier this week that the city will run out of money by April 29 unless financial aid measures currently in front of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are approved.

They include allowing the city’s struggling casinos to make set payments in lieu of taxes for the next 15 years – which would allow the properties to know exactly how much they would be liable to the state for – as well as mandating health insurance and retirement benefits for casino workers, diverting investment taxes paid by the casinos to city development projects to help pay off city debts, creating state education aid and eliminating the Atlantic City Alliance.

Governor Christie has already conditionally vetoed the idea of diverting taxes to pay a US$101 million deficit this year. Four of Atlantic City’s 12 remaining casinos shut their doors in 2014.

Just as worrying for Mayor Guardian is the prospect of New Jersey approving the construction of new casinos in North Jersey which would provide yet another alternative to Atlantic City.

A Deutsche Bank report earlier this year suggested that opening one or two casinos in the state’s north “could generate well over US$500 million – putting [around] US$275 million into the state’s coffers.”

The report stated, “It’s time for New Jersey to push forward with plans for a North Jersey casino or casinos … and as such, we believe that the next step is a constitutional referendum this November providing approval for gaming outside of Atlantic City.”

With the news getting worse by the day, it seems Atlantic City’s long-term fate has been well and truly sealed.