My Central Jersey: LETTER: American Dream Mall Deal Is An American Scheme
Originally appeared in My Central Jersey
By: New Jersey Sierra Club
August 15, 2016
The American Dream mall financing deal was rubber-stamped by the DCA Local Finance Board. This $800 million giveaway is part of a $1.15 billion subsidy of this project.
At a time when the state is broke, there is no money for the Transportation Trust Fund, and transportation projects are a halt, this deal is shameful and fiscally irresponsible. If this was such a good deal, why isn’t private sector financing it? Instead, they are moving around the money like Three-Card Monte. The Public Finance Authority in Wisconsin is the conduit for these bonds because they cannot get anyone to sign off on this cheesy deal here.
This is crony capitalism at its worst because the public is financing this private development. Instead of paying taxes with the revenue from the mall, they will be paying off their bonds putting us into a deeper hole. New Jersey will actually be losing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, while the mall costs the state essential governmental services like more police and emergency responders. The residents New Jersey will still be on the hook for the mall because all debt of the state is guaranteed under the state Constitution.