| SCI Report on Local Government Waste and Abuse Confirms Need for Powerful Independent Auditor |
| Angelini & Rible Call Latest Account of Abusive Benefits Given to Local Government Employees Reason to Establish Auditor General |
The report issued today by the State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation on the wasteful employee benefits in local government provides further proof why New Jersey taxpayers need a powerful, independent elected Auditor General, Assembly members Mary Pat Angelini and Dave Rible, both R-Monmouth, said.
"The commission deserves praise for once again revealing the waste that occurs throughout New Jersey’s governmental agencies," Angelini said. "Unfortunately, the commission can only point out what is wrong in New Jersey and recommend ways to fix it. It is powerless to force the change that this report shows is so obviously needed."
The commission's report, The Beat Goes On, identifies excessive benefits given to local employees. Some examples include 20 municipal workers who left their jobs in Camden, one of the nation's poorest cities, with an average of $115,000 in payments for unused time, five municipal employees in Rockaway Township, who received nearly $780,000 for cashing in unused holidays and other leave despite increased property taxes and budget cuts that eliminated a police position and the fact that all civilian municipal employees in Union City get a paid day off to go Christmas shopping.
"In this current economic climate most people are worried about providing a nice holiday for their families and do not get a taxpayer-funded day off to do so," Rible said. "Even though governments at all levels are facing unprecedented budget challenges, this report shows that many public officials will not stop providing excessive benefits taxpayers cannot afford. New Jersey needs a powerful advocate who will hold irresponsible officials accountable and stop the needless waste of taxpayer dollars."
Rible and Angelini support a Republican proposal to combine the state's duplicative auditing agencies, whose exposure of waste in government has often been ignored, into one super-charged Office of Auditor General, an independent elected position that would have the authority to recoup taxpayer dollars improperly spent and punish those responsible.
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