Atlantic City Submits 5-Year Financial Plan, Hoping To Avert NJ Takeover
By KYW's David Madden
TRENTON, NJ (CBS) -- The financial future of Atlantic City now rests with the state of New Jersey, as city officials submit a 5 year plan to stabilize its budget problems
The plan, approved by City Council Monday night, was hand delivered to the Department of Community Affairs. The agency has about a week to decide whether the proposal is good enough to avert a threatened state takeover of day-to-day operations.
For his part, Governor Chris Christie has steadfastly maintained he does not want to run Atlantic City. But on the other hand, he insists the state will not continue to bail out the town, which has seen drastic reductions in tax revenue with the decline of the casino industry.
Under the plan, homeowners would be spared tax increases for five years and it's anticipated the city would become less dependent on state aid over that time. But bonds would be refinanced, Bader Field would be purchased by the city's water company, Borgata would forgive about one-third of tax refunds it is due and 100 additional municipal jobs would be cut.