To the Editor:
There is an urgent need for the citizens of the City of Bayonne to know what is the story regarding the potential sale of the land at the MOT between the BLRA and Peninsula Infrastructure Partners. Has the developer walked away, leaving the City of Bayonne holding the bag, which eventually means the taxpayers of this city will be having their pockets picked again? Our city officials must come clean on this issue. The citizens of Bayonne cannot afford to wait to find out after the election that the developer has walked away and then are faced with massive tax property hikes.
The city faces a budget deficit of $41 million this year, and it was looking to use the sale proceeds to plug most of this gap for this fiscal year even though our current mayor stated he wouldn’t do it anymore. If the deal between the city and the developer has fallen apart, then there is a possibility of a property tax hike of $1,200 to $2,000 per homeowner so the deficit can be closed. At last month’s city council meeting, the mayor’s people stated that a Plan B was unnecessary since their plan would be finalized, but were silent when asked what would happen if it didn’t go through. What are our city officials thinking? They are playing a game of Russian roulette with the financial futures of many people in this town. To be gambling and hedging the city’s fiscal fortunes on a land deal that may or may not happen is completely irresponsible. How will the average Bayonne homeowner deal with this when so many are already struggling to pay the current property taxes and other bills already?
For far too long, the MOT has been a politician’s and their cronies’ cookie jar at the expense of the Bayonne taxpayer! The public has a right to know what is going financially with the city and the MOT because it is we who pay the bills and will be stuck paying for anything that goes wrong! Enough with the election smoke and mirrors!
JOHN BUDNIK
Candidate for Bayonne Council Member at Large