Atlantic City Layoffs Planned

Atlantic City, N.J employees in five departments could be facing layoffs by the end of the year as the city grapples with a continued credit crisis, according to a letter sent Tuesday.

The letter sent by Atlantic City business administrator Arch Liston and first obtained by pressofatlanticcity.com was sent to employees that work in the revenue and finance, health and human services, planning and development and public works departments, and the municipal courts. The letter said layoffs would take effect on Dec. 28, but did not indicate how many cuts might be made.

Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian was not immediately available for comment on the layoff notices. The city faced a $101 million budget gap for much of this year and has a $11 million debt service payment due in December.

Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed key elements of a rescue package approved by the State Legislature that would have allocated $33.5 million in redirected casino taxes to pay off municipal bonds.

Atlantic City Revenue Director Michael Stinson said the round of layoffs had already been planned prior to Christie's conditional vetoes and is not related. Stinson said he will know more about how the vetoes will impact the city's finances in the short term after Christie and State Senate President Steve Sweeney meet to try and iron out differences in the legislation.

Atlantic City is rated Caa1 by Moody's Investors Service and BB by Standard & Poor's.

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