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Everyone agrees that $4 billion in private investment is a great thing, especially if it helps create 43,000 jobs (directly and locally), generates revenue that will help seniors and people with disabilities, and turbocharges the revitalization of Atlantic City.

That's what the proponents of casino expansion say can happen next month if voters approve the constitutional amendment on the ballot, which calls for two more gambling facilities in North Jersey.

So what's not to like?

Drill deeper, and it's not hard to find out.

A prime objective is to help Atlantic City transition to a broader tourist economy by diverting an unspecified share of the revenue generated up north, but the 73-word initiative is so vaguely drawn it's hard to know how quickly that transition will come.

The amendment makes no mention of the tax rate imposed on the new casinos, and Assemblyman Chris Brown (R-Atlantic) accuses legislative leaders of giving developers too much of a voice in that decision: "If this isn't the tail wagging the dog," he says, "I don't know what is."

It also doesn't specify casino locations, and how much the state must contribute for infrastructure. Even though it is widely assumed developers Paul Fireman and Jeff Gural would build in Jersey City and the Meadowlands, they are essentially given free reign and a blank canvas.

And consider: Atlantic City's gaming future already appears dismal, so adding casinos in Bergen and Hudson Counties could cannibalize the market, unless it expedites AC's non-gambling development, job placement programs, and infrastructure improvements.

For these reasons, we encourage voters to vote no on Public Question No. 1 on Nov. 8.

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That's already how it's been trending: A Rutgers poll from Sept. 10 has 58 percent opposing casino expansion and only 35 percent approving; a Stockton poll from Sept. 21 has 68 percent opposed. The Fireman-Gural group, known as OUR Turn NJ, has already suspended its ad campaign.

But we also encourage lawmakers and developers to take another crack at it – preferably before the ban on New York City casinos ends in 2020 – because this might be the last chance New Jersey has to keep its disposable income from flowing into neighboring economies.

They can start by heeding the lesson from previous initiatives. In 1974, there was a referendum to establish casinos in unnamed places with proceeds going to state treasury, and it was defeated in a 60-40 rout. Two years later, a referendum specified casinos in Atlantic City - with revenue going towards reducing property taxes and paying utility costs for seniors and the disabled – and it passed easily (56-43).

The next referendum must erase hypotheticals, specify the sites where they'll plant the shovels, and explain the tax structure. That way, it can't be beaten to death by New York-based opposition groups such as Trenton's Bad Bet, which spent $11.3 million warning us that casinos and traffic will soon clog our backyards.

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That doubt has come to dominate the referendum debate.

Polling released by OUR Turn NJ showed that only 19 percent of New Jerseyans believe the state is headed in the right direction, that only 10 percent believe that the state can deliver on the estimated $500 million in annual revenue from the new casinos, and 50 percent think that revenue would be filched by politicians "for their own priorities."

Cynical bunch, New Jerseyans.

The Legislature tried to clarify it last month by proposing Assembly Continuing Resolution 206, which Gov. Christie supports. It states that casinos would be located near "appropriate infrastructure" that would minimize "impacts on residents," and that a panel would provide input on selecting the license-holders.

But the ACR still doesn't specify the tax rate, or how much revenue would flow to Atlantic City. And it may be too late to erase electoral doubt.

Voters aren't stupid. Until shown otherwise, they believe that Trenton can't deliver a sound strategy to reshape the gaming tableau, and their skepticism is justified.

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