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Community Corner

Still wondering why TR Taxes are going up ??

Toms River awarded four department heads -- including Business Administrator Paul J. Shives -- hundreds of hours of compensatory time over the last two years, violating the township's own policies, according to a report released today by the Office of the State Comptroller.

The comptroller's investigation looked at Toms River and 13 other towns throughout the state, finding six that paid of total of more than $195,000 in overtime to high-level employees in 2010 and 2011 without the support of a public ordinance. The passage of an ordinance, which allows for public comment and a vote from the governing body, is required under state law.

In addition, 10 of the 14 municipalities awarded their executives more than 4,000 hours of compensatory time over that same two-year period, also without adopting an ordinance.

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"Granting overtime and comp time to executive employees goes above and beyond what is legally required,'' Acting State Comptroller Marc Larkins said. "If municipalities choose to extend these benefits to their executives they must do so in a way that is transparent and adheres to the law."

Overall, the comptroller's office found that the award of overtime and compensatory time to executive officials was plagued by inadequate or nonexistent documentation and poor oversight. Several executives approved their own overtime payments, while in at least two cases executives padded their salary with an overtime rate of pay for working regular hours during Tropical Storm Irene.

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