New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed key parts of an Atlantic City rescue package that the New Jersey Legislature approved in June.
Christie announced Monday his conditional vetoes of a bill that would establish a payments-in-lieu of taxes program for casinos over a 15-year period. The action means $30 million that had originally been earmarked for Atlantic City will now be redirected to the state.
The bill was part of a package of legislation lawmakers passed to restore fiscal stability to the struggling gambling hub.
The Republican governor also conditionally vetoed a bill that would reallocate the casino alternative tax to pay debt service on Atlantic City-issued municipal bonds.
He also conditionally vetoed a bill to cancel the Atlantic City Alliance's partnership with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and direct its $60 million budget to the city for the next two years.
"While I commend the Legislature for attempting to devise measures to stabilize the City's budget and finances, I am concerned that the bills, in their present form, fail to recognize the true path to economic revitalization and fiscal stability in the city," Christie said in a statement. "While these bills represent the bipartisan efforts of many to provide important, near-term support to the city's immediate challenges, I do not believe they meet the goal of setting a course toward renewed, long-term prosperity and economic growth. To achieve these goals, we must continue our work and go further to ensure that the next step leads to that economically vibrant future for Atlantic City."
Christie did sign a bill in the relief package that authorizes supplemental school aid to the Atlantic City School District. He vetoed the fifth bill in the legislation that would have required casinos to provide full-time employees with "suitable health care and retirement benefits."
The New Jersey Senate and Assembly now have the option to make changes that would satisfy Christie's objections.
"I am extremely disappointed in the governor's failure to enact the package of bills to aid Atlantic City's financial recovery and I am concerned by the time that was wasted since the plan was put on his desk close to six months ago," New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said in a statement. "No one should ignore the fact that Atlantic City's financial crisis continues and that a comprehensive, forward-looking plan is needed to prevent fiscal conditions from getting worse and that we need to act quickly. I am prepared to work constructively with everyone who is impacted by Atlantic City's fate to help the city's economy recover and grow."
Christie challenged lawmakers in his conditional veto message to devise a plan that "addresses the continuing structural deficit in a manner that does not merely shift the city's obligations to the state."
Atlantic City suffered four casino closures in 2014 and was facing a $101 million budget gap prior to the approval of a 2015 fiscal plan in September nine months behind schedule. The city, which is rated Caa1 by Moody's Investors Service and B by Standard & Poor's, has been under emergency manager control since January.
"We are disappointed that the governor conditionally vetoed the package of bills designed to help revitalize Atlantic City," said the Casino Association of New Jersey in a statement. "We implore the necessary parties to quickly convene and resolve all open issues as soon as possible so that the legislature can address the Governor's action."
Atlantic City Emergency Manager Kevin Lavin referred all questions on Christie's action to the governor's office, according to his spokesman Bill Nowling. Lavin, a corporate restructuring attorney appointed by Christie in January, issued a March 22 report urging "shared sacrifice" for all stakeholders including suggestions of extending maturities for bondholders and rearranging the amortization schedule of bonds to delay principal repayments.
Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian could not immediately be reached for comment. Revenue Director Michael Stinson said he needed time to review the language in the conditional vetoes before commenting.
