Atlantic City Working On Plans To Address Financial Shortfall
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (CBS) - Officials are working on contingency plans when, or if, Atlantic City runs out of money early next month. This, as the city and the state continue to wrangle over the town's long-term financial future.
Mayor Don Guardian says a $9-million bridge loan would stave off a shutdown of non-essential services on April 8th. There's also the question of $33.5-million in aid already budgeted the Christie administration has yet to release.
Governor Chris Christie insists there'll be no loan. Only with approval of a state takeover and a tax payment package for the casinos will Trenton step in.
So the city's deciding what are, in fact, essential services.
"We're trying to determine how we are going to do this," Guardian says. "If the question that you're going to ask is what Atlantic City is going to look like on April 9th, I can tell you that it's not going to look any different."
Police and fire personnel will be paid when tax revenues start coming in by early May. Bond payments will also be made on time and schools will remain open.
Guardian says many city workers are volunteering to come in without pay, as long as unemployment benefits can kick in. But without a long-term solution, this crisis can surface again by summer.
City officials are adamant in their opposition to a state takeover, saying it would trample on the rights of citizens to vote and municipal workers to collectively bargain and be protected by civil service.
Noting what he sees as intransigence on Christie's part, City Council President Marty Small offered up a suggestion:
"Maybe we can call on Donald Trump to have a conversation with him about Atlantic City," he said, "Donald Trump seems to be the only one that the Governor listens to these days."