Keep the Change: Audit Finds New Jersey Turnpike Authority Worker Receiving $321,985 Salary and Benefits

Next time you pass through the New Jersey Turnpike, you might want to ask the worker for a loan. Auditors recently found millions in unwarranted bonuses to workers on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. A total of $43 million was found wasted.

One worker stands out in the report. The worker had a $73,469 base salary but earned $321,985 with payouts and bonuses. At that salary, he or she could have been a manager in Bell, California.

The audit also found that the improper bonuses were not even tied to actual performance. It is easy to see how you can inflate your salary from the details of the report. For example, employees were first paid overtime for working holidays and removing snow. They were then given bonuses for working holidays and removing snow. There was even nearly $90,000 for scholarships for workers’ kids. Then there was the money paid for a “toll operators event” that lacked only one thing: toll operators. No one actually went to the event but it was still paid for by the Turnpike.

The Turnpike has announced the need to increase tolls in 2012.

Source; Land Line