fbpx

Accumulated Sick-Day Payouts: ‘Local’ Problem Hits $2 Billion and Counting

Public workers in a majority of New Jersey’s municipalities, school districts, and all but two of its counties are due almost $1.9 billion in pay for unused absences when they retire, with at least one employee slated to receive as much as $500,000. To put things in perspective: If this obligation were spread throughout the state,…

More from my site

Posted: March 30th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: New Jersey | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments »

4 Comments on “Accumulated Sick-Day Payouts: ‘Local’ Problem Hits $2 Billion and Counting”

  1. This is a disgusting said at 10:04 am on March 30th, 2017:

    abuse of taxpayers,everywhere in this ridiculous state. Am sick and tired of local “leaders” excusing this, by saying so many are “grandfathered”- in to the ongoing nonsense: when towns have to bond for 25 years, to pay off one part-time local librarian over $70,000, not to mention the worst abusers of “sick time,” cops and administrators, they deserve to have to stop the fiefdom and consolidate! As an ex government employee, I left with over$125,000 in truly unused sick time- fought to give away the unused time to very ill fellow employees, and, fortunately, my entity had capped all at the $15,000: that is enough, for any one to get, and if the legislature really had brains and cared, they would finally pass an all- encompassing law, allowing no more than that for unused sick time, AND, totally stopping the double and triple- dipping of anyone in government, in NJ!
    The “wink and a nod,” ” inner- sanctum,” “club-” mentality of too many ” leaders” in this state, is beyond arrogant and wrong: think how much healthier our entire state economy would be, if all those who had committed a crime, multiple- dipped, and fudged their sick times, were capped or stopped! Between the outrageous abuse of so many freebie social programs, and the abuse of the system, by those who are supposed to govern us right, it is no wonder NJ is again at pathetic, junk- bond debt and status. Sadly, it will likely take some kind of default/ bankruptcy status, to finally make these idiots wake up, and realize how totally unfair and unsustainable these unchecked, decades- old mentalities and attitudes are! Enough- no excuses: you are all up, this year, from governor on down: either you risk vote blocks by stopping the catering to these groups, or you, for once, do the right thing, for those few left here, who have to pay the outrageous bills!

  2. Pete M said at 11:35 am on March 30th, 2017:

    How nice that we as a state pay for Jersey City schools because they are an Abbott district, so that they can pay these crazy salary and benefits to their police and fire. Must be nice!!!

  3. It is said at 11:20 am on March 31st, 2017:

    not just that city: it is outrageous that it has gotten to some Abbotts getting anywhere from 70-90% of their funding from the rest of us,( which includes all their expenses:) this is what happens with ongoing, socialist re- distribution, and so few property taxpayers, that we are running out of everyone else’s money. Being NJ, the funding formula is likely to never change, thanks to the powerful, ruling unions.

  4. Steve Adams said at 1:38 pm on April 3rd, 2017:

    There is a fundamental principle that our elected officials have violated.
    Government needs to provide some services, but those services should be procured at a fair market rate. When politicians create a system that allows the costs for any service to exceed the fair market rate, they have in effect and in practice made a payoff to a special interest that is immoral and should be illegal.

    Anytime the services exceed the “fair market” cost any agreement for those services should be voided, and taxpayers should be able to recreate the services in government, or preferably competitively bid the service in the private sector.