Three summits, two take over bills, and an emergency manager later, and Atlantic City has not yet seen the assistance it was promised in 2014. Within the past two years, the State has hired a nationally respected emergency manager and put together a world-class team with the promise of restructuring the City's $240 million in legacy debt and to negotiate a settlement for our outstanding $148 million bill from Borgata's successful line of tax appeal victories. Unfortunately, as it stands today, the State has neither restructured our debt nor settled the Borgata tax appeal case.
There was a glimmer of hope in 2014 when Senate President Steve Sweeney introduced a PILOT bill that would have locked in Atlantic City casinos at a collective payment of $120 million a year. It was a brilliant move that would have stabilized our local economy by locking in the casinos at this set amount and would have protected against devastating casino tax appeals. Everyone, including the casinos themselves, agreed that this bill would have been a significant in helping Atlantic City stabilize its finances. The state legislature even added two more amendments that would have given Atlantic City an additional $45 million in 2015 and 2016. Unfortunately, the PILOT bill has since been vetoed twice by the Governor, leaving Atlantic City in an even more perilous position. Without having the PILOT bill signed into law and having the guarantee of no future devastating tax appeals - the city, county, school system, and library all stand to lose over $25 million of revenue from 2015 when the casinos file their respective property tax appeals. Meanwhile, the city inches closer towards bankruptcy each day.
Since 2014, I wake up every day and try to be the most proactive Mayor that Atlantic City has ever seen. We have made significant cuts within every department and dramatically reduced the size of our workforce including the police and fire departments. There are over 300 less employees working for city hall today than when I was sworn into office. We have saved over $25 million in fiscal year 2015, and expect to save $25 million in fiscal year 2016. I will be first to acknowledge this is not enough, but I will not be the last to say that we have not done our part.
I am working diligently with city council to find more ways to cut costs and save money while bringing in more revenue. As such, I want to maximize the value of the Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority by bringing it under city control and leveraging it for at least another $4 million a year without raising residential rates more than 2% annually. This is a common sense solution that would benefit everyone.
We believe that no stone should be left unturned, that is why we are increasing fees that have not been touched in decades. Our State Monitor, Ed Sasdelli, has been guiding us scrupulously. We are increasing our fees across the board for construction, code, and fire inspections. We are lining up valuable property to be sold at auction. We reviewed the necessity of all city vehicles and brought in those that are not needed. In my first year of office, we had over 60 vehicles returned that are no longer take home cars. I have tasked my business administrator to once again meet with the Atlantic County business administrator and other government business administrators in the area to find additional cost savings through mutual beneficial shared services. We are in the process of putting out an RFP for a parking utility that we anticipate would triple the amount of parking meters in the City. I would have undertaken all of these good government initiatives even if this was just a normal time for Atlantic City. However, this is not a normal time in Atlantic City. In fact, our city is at a cross roads of historic proportions.
A wise leader once challenged the President of the United States by saying, "I have a particular message for the president: He should get in and lead and bring them together. And he should have those people in the same room and he should say to them, 'We're not leaving here until we've resolved this issue.'"
That wise leader was Governor Chris Christie, in 2011, who was referring to a potential shutdown of the federal government just a few years ago. As Mayor of Atlantic City, I could not agree with the Governor's sentiments more. I hope and expect the Governor will apply the same advice he once gave the President to the current situation facing Atlantic City. Allowing one of the state's most iconic cities to declare bankruptcy should not be a viable option.
Donald A. Guardian is the Mayor of Atlantic City, N.J.
