Senator Michael Testa urged Governor Phil Murphy to order a performance audit and State oversight to control costs related to the development of a French arts museum in Jersey City.

The museum, Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, has received $58 million of State funding that is at risk of being wasted without oversight, Testa said in a letter to Murphy today.

“Governor Murphy continues to funnel tens of millions of dollars to the French arts museum project in Jersey City with little to no oversight of spending,” said Testa (R-1). “Our staff reviewed publicly available documents and found significant waste and excess, including more than 30 no-bid consultants, consultants hired to find other consultants, more than $10 million in fees to use the French ‘Pompidou’ name, and millions more that will be spent for the privilege of displaying art owned by France. It’s not clear why this extremely expensive project is a priority for the Murphy administration, but the least the governor can do is try to control costs that appear to be ballooning.”

Here’s a link to the review finding excess and waste (Click here for PDF).

The full letter from Testa to Governor Murphy follows (Click here for PDF):

Dear Governor Murphy,

It has come to my attention that $58 million of State taxpayer money appropriated to Jersey City for the French Arts Museum project is supporting unconscionable excess and waste. In recognition of your advocacy for the project, I am sharing this information with you. While I understand you will not cancel State taxpayer support, I am requesting that you order a performance audit and put State oversight in place to control costs.

By way of background, in the absence of your office or the legislative majority providing an explanation of how the $58 million will be spent, I directed a review of the project. The results can be found here: Memorandum. Findings that should alarm anyone concerned about excess and waste include:

– Approximately 30 million Euros (more than $33 million) will be payable just to the Centre Pompidou French Arts Museum in Paris. 10 million Euros (approximately $11 million) of that amount is for the right to use the Pompidou name on the museum for five years – assuming it ever opens.

– More than 30 no-bid consultants (and counting) will receive more than $40 million for the project’s soft costs. Among them are: consultants to find other consultants; consultants that review each other’s work product; consultants that duplicate the functions of project managers, engineers, and architects; and consultants of dubious need or with extravagant costs, including a food consultant, a “vertical transportation” consultant, a French legal consultant, and consultants for lighting, sound, and signage.

– Consultants were awarded contracts outside of public bidding while making substantial campaign contributions and contributions to nonprofits controlled by local officials – with the nonprofits reportedly paying to fly those same officials to Paris. Many were selected despite costs that were higher than other reasonable proposals.

– $10 million in debt was issued in 2018 by the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority with a one-year maturity. It has been renewed annually ever since with minimal principal payments despite a staggering current 6.5% interest rate. Millions of dollars of avoidable annual interest payments and no-bid professional fees wouldn’t be needed (and still won’t be) if the $58 million of State taxpayer money paid down the debt.

I remain opposed to forcing State taxpayers to fund the project — especially considering your Department of State has estimated the museum boondoggle costs could climb to approximately $200 million. I am sure you will find a State performance review and oversight essential to protect against excess, waste, and potentially worse.

Sincerely,

Michael L. Testa, Jr.