order an unprecedented state government shutdown after an hourlong meeting Friday night with top legislative officials failed to resolve differences.

A shutdown could freeze the state lottery, suspend road projects, close parks and possibly darken casinos.

"Over the last several days the administration has worked on contingency plans for the orderly shutdown of state government," Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said. "At this time, it looks like we may well be forced to implement those contingencies."

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, leading the opposition to Corzine's sales tax increase, accused the governor of "strong arm" tactics.

"We've reached the crisis point, and all because the governor is more interested in imposing a shutdown instead of reaching an agreement that would make a sales tax increase unnecessary," Roberts said.

The state Constitution requires a balanced budget by July 1, but the deadline has been missed four times in five years. Nothing happened when deadlines were missed before, but the state never went past the morning of July 2 without an adopted budget. Without one, the state has no authority to spend money.

"The public should be assured that we will do whatever is necessary over the holiday weekend and beyond, if necessary, to ensure the seamless continuity of essential government services and programs," Coley said.

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The lottery and road construction would be among the first state services to close. Parks and beaches would take several days to completely shut down.

Casinos, which require monitoring by state gambling regulators to operate, also might be forced to close.

The casinos lost a bid in Superior Court in Atlantic City on Friday to get state monitors declared "essential employees" who could keep working during a government shutdown.

Joseph A. Corbo Jr., a vice president at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and head of the state casino association, said if casinos were forced to close for the five-day holiday weekend, it would cost the state $10 million in tax revenue and casino workers about $3 million a day in wages and tips.

"We believe that it would be counterproductive for the state, which is in a budget crisis, to close businesses that generate millions of tax revenues, particularly since we directly pay for the state employees who regulate our casinos," Corbo said.

Leaders from state worker unions said the administration was telling workers whether their jobs were considered essential and if they should report to work on Monday. State Personnal Commissioner Rolando Torres advised state employees to check the state's Web site for updated information.

A Friday morning budget hearing led by Assembly Democrats opposed to Corzine's plan to boost the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent resulted in no apparent progress. Treasurer Bradley Abelow said the sides remained about $1 billion apart - roughly the same amount that would be raised by a sales tax increase.

Corzine proposed the sales tax increase to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts Saturday. It's a key part of his $31 billion budget plan, and Corzine has threatened to veto any budget that doesn't include it.

Opponents have questioned the need for a sales tax increase, predicting voter backlash and demanding that any increase be reserved for property tax reform.

Associated Press Writer Bonnie Pfister in Atlantic City contributed to this report.