Audit: NJ Turnpike Wasted Millions On Perks

[Chris_]

Auditors say the New Jersey Turnpike Authority wasted $43 million on unneeded perks and bonuses.  In one case, an employee with a base salary of $73,469 earned $321,985 when all payouts and bonuses were included.

The biggest expense uncovered in the audit was $30 million in unjustified bonuses to employees and management in 2008 and 2009 without consideration of performance.

Another audit finding was that employees were allowed to cash out a portion of their unused sick and vacation days at the end of the year to circumvent the current $15,000 limit for sick leave payouts upon retirement.  That cost $3.8 million a year.

Public money was also used to cover costs for a toll operators event that none of the authority's employees actually attended.

My Fox NY

Any money wasted during the fiscal year should be withheld from next year's budget.  Just an idea.

[cavegal]

My Fox NY

Any money wasted during the fiscal year should be withheld from next year's budget.  Just an idea.

I like that idea 

[DumbAss Tanker]

It's a common misconception that the Turnpike jobs are low-paying (Jusat base salary, that is), in reality they are anything but.