As a result, Atlantic City owed casinos large refunds on taxes paid up to 10 years ago. On top of that, casinos successfully appealed their property valuations by arguing the city had been overtaxing them.
Atlantic City's unemployment rate is already 50 percent higher than the national average. The closures have taken a huge swipe at the city’s property tax revenue, as the total assessed valuation has plummeted from $14.4 billion to $7.3 billion in just two years. In 2014, four of the city's 12 casinos closed, and the Trump Taj Mahal closed last month. In the past 15 years, more than a dozen casinos have opened in Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania. Reebok CEO Paul Fireman and developer Jeff Gural, who proposed building casinos in Jersey City and the Meadowlands Racetrack, said in a statement Tuesday night that they were 'disappointed but not surprised' by the result.Ītlantic City, once the East Coast’s gaming capital, has struggled in the face of increased competition in neighboring states. They argued that the referendum was the city's best hope for revitalizing its downtown and diversifying its economy beyond gaming. Chris Christie, and the assembly speaker and senate president, who are both Democrats. Proponents of the referendum included developers and businesses in northern New Jersey, Republican Gov.
