Atlantic City is facing tidal waves of change, from the way people gamble to how the state oversees its operations, how the city attracts visitors while caring for its most vulnerable residents, and how it should prepare to do battle with casinos in New York City.
Long a cash cow for the rest of the state from gambling and resort taxes, Atlantic City is a key economic engine for New Jersey — one that will be challenged as never before once casinos in New York City open in a few years.
And a law that enabled the state to take over many essential functions of government in Atlantic City is scheduled to draw to a close soon.
Given that reality, Atlantic City could feature prominently in Gov. Phil Murphy’s penultimate State of the State address Tuesday.
But will it?
If past speeches are any indication, the seaside gambling resort may be mentioned only in passing — or not at all. In his six previous State of the State speeches, Murphy mentioned Atlantic City twice.
People are also reading…
The Governor’s Office would not discuss what his speech might include, instead saying, “As we begin our final year of partnership, we remain more committed than ever to delivering economic security and opportunity to every New Jerseyan. And over the next 12 months, we are going to run through the tape in making New Jersey the best state — anywhere in America — to live, work, and raise a family.â€
So what does Atlantic City want to hear from Murphy on Tuesday? The Press of Atlantic City asked key stakeholders.
The first snowfall of the new year blanketed South Jersey on Monday, closing schools, turning roads slick and creating a winter wonderland a day or two after many people packed away their holiday decorations.Â
A cut of the sports betting pie?
Mayor Marty Small Sr. praised his fellow Democrat as “a godsend for the great city of Atlantic City,†saying the state has provided extra resources and help without trampling on the rights of its citizens.
He said the narrative of state officials having “Atlantic City fatigue†is false, continuing to believe the state wants to help the resort thrive.
One thing Small would like to hear from the governor is support for his request for a cut of sports betting tax revenue to be dedicated solely to Atlantic City. Through the first 11 months of 2024, those taxes totaled over $133 million.
A bill that would have diverted to the city a 1.25% tax on sports betting that currently goes to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to promote Atlantic City died in the Legislature in 2022.
Small previously asked the state to give Atlantic City a three- to five-year monopoly on legal cannabis sales — an idea that turned out to be a pipe dream.
The mayor also renewed his call for the city to share in other tax streams that it generates but does not receive, including a luxury tax, a hotel room tax and parking taxes.
Clean and safe streets
Don Guardian, a Republican Assemblyman and former Atlantic City mayor, said he would like to hear plans for making school funding more equitable statewide without hurting the large amount of funding Atlantic City receives, which he put at $125 million a year.
He’d also like to hear ideas for making more efficient use of government funds to help build new attractions in the resort, including a medical school involving Stockton University and AtlantiCare.
North Wildwood has been desperate for sand for years, but neighboring Wildwood and Wildwood Crest have new doubts about how federal plans will impact their beaches.
And while he praised the work of local and county law enforcement in Atlantic City, Guardian said he constantly hears from visitors that they don’t feel safe there.
“We create that sense of security by making sure the streets are clean and paved and well-lit and having police officers seen up and down those streets,†he said.
As mayor, Guardian teamed up with Small, who was City Council president at the time, to lobby against the state takeover, an effort that ultimately failed.
“The state has provided a lot of cash,†he said. “The challenge is how do you come up with a plan so that the city doesn’t squander the money it gets from the state.â€
Long wish list from businesses
Businesses in and around Atlantic City have no shortage of requests for the governor, starting with “robust support†for the city’s infrastructure and basic services. The Greater Atlantic City Chamber said it would like to hear Murphy’s thoughts about economic diversification beyond casino gambling.
The chamber wants continued state oversight of the resort. It supports expanding a tax credit to help community-driven development, and wants more support for small businesses in an economy where much of the spending and earning gets done during the summer.
Gambling is moving online
Atlantic City is seeing a steady change in the way people gamble. More and more of the business is moving online. That means fewer people are gambling in person at the nine casinos.
Why is that important? Money won from internet gambling or sports betting is not solely for the casinos to keep; they must share it with outside parties like tech providers and sports books.
From the closing of Gillian's Wonderland in Ocean City to the Atlantic City mayor and superintendent being accused of abusing their teenage daughter, these are the stories that shaped South Jersey in 2024.
For that reason, the casinos consider money won from in-person gamblers to be their core business. And two-thirds of the casinos are winning less in person now than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
In 2023, the state Legislature tried unsuccessfully to limit internet gambling to just another two years, eventually settling for a five-year extension.
A burning debate
The casinos are trying to fight off an effort to end smoking on the gambling floor. Murphy has promised to sign a bill if it reaches his desk. But competing measures that would either ban smoking altogether or allow it to continue with some new restrictions have been bottled up in the Legislature for years.
Nicole Vitola, a dealer at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and a leader of the employee anti-smoking movement, would love to hear Murphy take a strong stand in favor of smoke-free casinos in his speech.
“Phil Murphy’s 2017 campaign slogan was to create a ‘stronger and fairer New Jersey,’†she said. “I’m hoping he addresses closing the loophole in the Smoke Free Air Act of 2006 and giving the casino workers the same equal protection as everyone else. What can be fairer than that?â€
The threat from the north
New York is moving closer to approving and building casinos in New York City and surrounding areas — something many in Atlantic City view as an existential threat, with North Jersey being one of Atlantic City’s prime customer markets. How the state deals with the threat of job and revenue losses — and possible casino closures in Atlantic City — before New York starts siphoning off business could be key to the city’s future.
And though no one is actively pushing it now, the idea of a casino at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, just outside New York City, is definitely not dead. New Jersey voters shot down that plan by an 80%-to-20% vote in a 2016 referendum.
But Jeff Gural, operator of the Meadowlands, said last April he believes New Jersey voters will authorize construction of a casino there shortly after New York casinos open and New Jersey gamblers tire of paying bridge tolls and sitting in traffic to get to gambling halls in New York. Gural proposed building such a casino with Hard Rock in 2016.
Debra White, the state's new "homelessness czar," has been on the job since September, but Tuesday state officials announced the "first-ever coordinated resource effort with the City of Atlantic City, nonprofit organizations, and healthcare providers is underway."
Mark Giannantonio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said Murphy has shown he cares about Atlantic City.
“I want the governor to know we support him, and my colleagues and I at the other casinos want him to engage even more with Atlantic City,†he said. “Nobody is afraid of competition. We have all done a good job of marketing our individual properties. At the end of the day we all have to be aligned with presenting ourselves as a true world-class destination. It might take a number of years to get there, but it needs to be in advance of New York coming online.â€
New York casino licenses could be handed out at the end of this year, with construction taking at least two more years.
