Atlantic City, N.J.'s cash-strapped casino hub, will slash at least 100 jobs, or about 10 percent of its staff, but does not plan to raise taxes in a five-year fiscal recovery plan aimed at avoiding a state takeover, according to a presentation by city advisers yesterday. The gambling resort has lost more than two thirds of its property tax base since 2010 because of competition from casinos in neighboring states, which has led five of the city's 12 casinos to close since 2014, Reuters reported. The city also plans to sell a defunct airstrip to its water authority for $110 million to fill a budget hole and meet terms of a $73 million emergency loan issued by the state earlier this year. Under the recovery plan, Atlantic City will borrow to help pay off big tax appeal settlements that it owes to the MGM Resorts International-operated Borgata and other casinos, lawyers said at the city council hearing. Mayor Don Guardian said that the plan will be presented to state officials in Trenton today after the city council approved it yesterday. From there, the state has five days to accept the plan. If it does not pass muster, the state could take over city operations, a move that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has pushed for in the past.
