Revel hits the jackpot at taxpayer expense

This is merely the latest chapter in the Gambling Addiction suffered by the State of New Jersey in their desperate attempt to plug declining revenues and failed fiscal policies.

The sacrifice of local control should also be noted.

In spite of the glorious promises of Casino Gambling when it was initially promoted, it hasn't come to pass, as the City has continued to decay, crime has risen and casinos took their profits and ran.


Casino project resumes with $261 million from N.J.
By Ginger Gibson/Statehouse Bureau

After a two year delay, construction will resume next week on the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City thanks to a $261 million boost from the state, Gov. Chris Christie announced yesterday.

"The state will put its efforts and its credibility and its money where its mouth is," Christie said in the shell of the hotel’s lobby, where he signed bills that will deregulate Atlantic’s City gambling industry in an attempt to breath new life into a resort facing competition from surrounding states.


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What the Atlantic City bills do:
• Streamline regulatory oversight of Atlantic City’s casinos. The Casino Control Commission will handle casino licensing and adjudicating regulatory disputes but will no longer be required to provide inspectors at the casinos 24 hours a day. The Division of Gaming Enforcement will focus on day-to-day regulations of casino operations.

• Create the Atlantic City Tourism District. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority can establish a district in the city that stretches from the Boardwalk to the Convention Center, and encompasses the marina district and retail areas. The authority can adjust the boundaries as it sees fit, and has the power to set land use regulations, undertake redevelopment projects, advance commercial developments and institute infrastructure improvements in the district.

• Enable marketing of Atlantic City. The $30 million campaign will be funded by the casinos. Funds that would have been spent on regulations and horse racing will now be used for marketing purposes. CRDA will oversee the marketing and assumes governance of the Convention Center Authority.

• Establish a public safety plan for Atlantic City. The State Police will appoint someone to oversee public safety in the city and coordinate the Atlantic City Police Department with other public safety entities in the city. Local law enforcement, along with the mayor, will partner with the State Police and Attorney General to develop a public safety plan.
—Megan DeMarco






The Economic Development Authority approved financing for the Revel project and in turn the state will be a 20 percent partner, ensuring a piece of the casino’s profit, Christie said. The state will not share any potential losses, Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said, and the arrangement will end once the $261 million is recouped.

Christie said the state aid is about 8 percent of anticipated sales tax revenue for the project. The bulk of the financing, about $1.155 billion, is private, he said. The plan, however, drew criticism from conservative and liberal groups.

"It’s just another in a long line of failed attempts to subsidize Atlantic City," said Americans for Prosperity New Jersey Director Steve Lonegan, a conservative who lost to Christie in the 2009 GOP primary. "The Revel Casino hit the jackpot here at government expense."

New Jersey Policy Perspective Executive Director Deborah Howlett questioned how Christie could claim the state is broke while promising hundreds of millions in subsidies.

"When we have to take such deep cuts in our investment in educating our children, in police, in sanitation workers, for Pete’s sake, but we’re still finding hundreds of millions to give to corporations, there’s an imbalance there," said Howlett, a former spokeswoman for Gov. Jon Corzine, who lost to Christie in 2009.

Christie said with deregulation, casinos will save money and can invest more in advertising and marketing. He wants to turn Atlantic City into a vacation and convention destination.

The law establishes a tourism district and requires a division of police be funded by the city and patrol the district.

Christie and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford, who skipped the press conference, have been at odds over the plan.

Langford contends the city will be required to divert resources from high-crime areas to the low-crime casino district, noting the populations of the areas to be in the tourism district are mostly white while most in areas left out are black.

Compounding the issue, Atlantic City laid off police officers last year to balance their budget, Langford said. "It is the belief that all the neighborhoods should be in it or none, (residents) are calling it Christie’s apartheid," he said.

Christie counters that State Police will help patrol the district and it won’t cause problems for the non-district residents. He dismissed Langford’s criticisms as "baloney."

"He’s just playing to the lowest common denominator and the worst of our society," Christie said. "He should be ashamed of himself. I believe our Attorney General, who is also African-American, told him the same thing yesterday."

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said as the prime sponsor he never heard concern from Langford. "Enough with the race baiting, enough with the grandstanding," Sweeney said. "It’s right for the city and the people of the city."

Staff writer Matt Friedman contributed to this article.