To the Editor:
It was with great pleasure that I watched and listened to Christopher L. Patella, executive director of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority, at a recent BLRA meeting advise the citizens of the City of Bayonne that the BLRA was paying down its debt to the tune of $7 million. Mr. Patella took great pains to point out that this was the first time that the BLRA was paying down its debt, and he was quick to point out that he was proud that it was happening under his watch. I was absolutely elated to find that we finally had somebody in local government who “gets it” as far as runaway fiscal practices are concerned.
My elation, it turns out, was short lived and completely misguided, as I came to learn shortly thereafter that Mr. Patella wasn’t telling us the complete story.
Someone recently showed me the tape of a BLRA meeting, at which it was explained how the City of Bayonne and the BLRA were going to spend the $40 million that the BLRA was getting from the sale of the Maritime District. As I understand it, in April of 2009 the BLRA had notes coming due in the amount of about $33 million. The BLRA had just completed its transaction with Ports America for the sale of the Maritime District, and was in receipt of about $40 million.
You would think that the BLRA would just use the proceeds of the sale to pay down the notes, wouldn’t you? That didn’t happen. Instead, the BLRA gave the City of Bayonne the entire $40 million because the City of Bayonne has a huge budget deficit (over $30 million) and the City needed the money to cover that deficit. The City of Bayonne then took a portion of that $40 million and bought the notes that the BLRA owed money on. The net effect of the note purchase was that the BLRA ended up owing the City of Bayonne $33 million on the notes. The BLRA gives the City $40 million and ends up owing the City $33 million. How does that happen? Doesn’t that seem odd?
This whole transaction was somehow explained as a “good thing.” As a taxpayer, I am troubled by this whole financial mess. In the end, the BLRA still owes money on the notes, which were never paid off and the City of Bayonne still has a budget deficit in excess of $30 million. All of the money from the sale of the Maritime District has been spent hiding the City’s budget deficit and we have nothing to show for it other than an increased debt load and higher taxes. We, the taxpayers, are like first time tourists from Nebraska standing in front of a three-card-Monte stand in New York City and Mr. Patella, the mayor and the Municipal Council just keep shuffling the cards faster and faster as the money flies out of our pockets.
And I am supposed to thank Mr. Patella, the mayor and the Municipal Council for this state of affairs? I don’t think so.
KELLY MURPHY