Atlantic City slid closer to insolvency this week when its largest casino declined to pay its February property-tax bill, raising the stakes for New Jersey lawmakers who are crafting a bill that would allow a state takeover of the resort city, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The city was previously on track to run out of cash by April 1, but that timeline sped up when a state judge ruled on Feb. 5 that Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa could withhold its $7.2 million tax payment as a way of recouping some of the $150 million owed to it by the city. Citing the financial turmoil in Atlantic City, which is facing a nearly $80 million budget deficit this year, the judge on Thursday ordered Borgata and state of New Jersey to hold a Feb. 23 settlement discussion to negotiate the outstanding debt.
