Newark’s mayor Ras Baraka is looking for ways to help the city increase its earnings, and he’s turning to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the Port Authority has properties in Newark that could help. In his State of the City speech, Baraka brought to light why the city could use more revenue:
“We have forty percent of our children in poverty, high unemployment, dying children, crumbling infrastructure, and a superintendent of schools that you yourself know is not working,” he said.
According to an article by nj.com, there are several ways that Baraka says the city could generate money. One would be through Newark’s seaport. By taxing the large storage containers that are passed through the port, the city could make anywhere from $5 million to $10 million. However, the final number would depend on the quantity of goods that are shipped.
Another way would be through Newark Liberty International Airport. The idea would be to charge a tax to passengers traveling in or out of the airport, however, since Newark already receives a portion of the fees charged to planes when they land, that idea is not likely to go into effect.
A more realistic idea would be to create a tax on goods sold at the airport. Since passengers already know that many of the airport’s good are overpriced, it could be a viable option for Newark to make some extra money.
Mayor Baraka went on to say:
“We need the airport and the seaport not to just be in Newark, but we need them to be a part of Newark. We need transparency and oversight now. And if they cannot work with us in a way that is both fair and transparent, I’m prepared to out an RFP [request for proposal] on the street asking interested parties to buy our seaport.”
