Fighting takeover, Atlantic City looking for money everywhere

Facing a deadline to get its finances in order by before the end of the year or face a state takeover, Atlantic City is doing the budgetary equivalent of checking the sofa cushions for spare change, looking for money in places small and large.

On Thursday, it will sell off surplus land. But it's also looking at measures as small as raising the fines for parking meter violations and being under the Boardwalk without authorization.

New Jersey officials have given the cash-strapped city five months to tame its finances before the state can take them over.

Big-ticket items include the proposed sale of the former Bader Field airport and a 10-and-a-half acre parcel on Route 30 that's eyed as a tech or research park.