NJ Senate President Sweeney Unveils His Own Financial Survival Plan For Atlantic City
By David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- Tomorrow, New Jersey governor Chris Christie gathers stakeholders for a second meeting in three months on the future of Atlantic City.
Meanwhile, state senate president Steve Sweeney is floating his own five-point plan aimed at turning the city's fortunes around.
Sweeney likened the current financial situation of Atlantic City to that which Detroit is only now coming out of.
Sweeney says it costs $370 million for schools and government in the shore town of 40,000, which, he says, is unsustainable given the current financial climate where property tax revenues are down by more than half.
"The financial structure to run that city doesn't work, so we have to fix that first," Sweeney said. "Once you fix that, then we can start doing the other pieces that will actually put Atlantic City back together again."
Under Sweeney's plan, the casinos would make $150 million in payments in lieu of taxes over the first two years, portions of the tax on gambling revenue would go to the city's debt, shared services would be pursued, and, at some point, the state would have to kick in some extra money.