Atlantic City, the distressed New Jersey gambling hub, should consider privatizing its fire-fighting services and convention center and find ways to make more money off its drinking water utility, the city's emergency manager said in an updated fiscal rescue plan, Reuters reported on Friday. The report comes one year after Governor Chris Christie appointed Kevin Lavin as emergency manager. Lavin's report, which also calls for additional layoffs, follows an initial assessment last March. New Jersey taxpayers have so far spent $2.62 million on Lavin and his team of accountants, restructuring lawyers and a mediator, according to invoices obtained and reviewed by Reuters through public records requests. "I'm glad the emergency manager has, after spending millions of dollars in no-bid contracts and wasting months of time, concluded what we all know: that Atlantic City government is broken and needs to be fixed immediately," Senate President Steve Sweeney said in a statement. Sweeney is now pushing for a full state takeover of Atlantic City operations that would strip elected officials of nearly all power. Lavin said in a statement that over the past year his office and city stakeholders have "kept the city from falling into financial ruin" by tackling a $100 million budget deficit.
