ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey voters will decide Tuesday whether casino gambling can expand beyond Atlantic City.
Ballot question No. 1 asks whether to authorize the construction of two new casinos in separate counties in the northern part of the state near New York City.
The measure doesn’t specify where the casinos would be built, but proposals have been floated for casinos at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford; in Jersey City and Newark.
Supporters say the new casinos would recapture gambling dollars currently being lost to neighboring states, but opponents say the expansion would kill an already-teetering Atlantic City, where five of the 12 casinos have shut down in a little over two years.
“Atlantic City has been hurt by competition from casinos in a market that has become saturated, and we’re saying the answer is to add even more casinos to an already oversaturated market?” asked Chris Brown, a Republican state Assemblyman from the Atlantic City area. “It just makes no sense.”
Jim Kirkos, president of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, said a casino and a separately planned convention center in the region “will restore our standing as the most visited entertainment district in the United States.”
“North Jersey gaming is about jobs and opportunity for our members and impacts to be enjoyed by the entire state,” he added.
Polls have shown the question is likely to be defeated by a substantial margin; it was trailing by a 3-to-1 margin in some polls shortly before Election Day.
Opponents, including the Malaysian owners of Resorts World casino in New York City, spent $14.8 million on ads tying the referendum to the unpopular state government in Trenton. Proponents spent $8.5 million touting the expansion until throwing in the towel in September, when it became clear it was likely headed for defeat.
The ballot question also leaves voters in the dark on several key points. In addition to not specifying exactly where the casinos would be built, it does not say what rate they would be taxed at, and perhaps most crucially, how the resulting tax money would be divvied up among Atlantic City, the horse racing industry, host towns and counties, and programs for senior citizens and the disabled.
The state Legislature said its intent was for some of the tax money to help Atlantic City reinvent itself as a resort less dependent on gambling, but refused to decide those crucial details before the question went to voters.
If it is defeated, the measure cannot be brought back before voters for two years.
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
