State comptroller scolds Monmouth County commissioners for secret salary hikes [View all]
The Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners flouted state law when it disregarded the required public process to boost commissioners’ and the county sheriff’s salaries, according to a new report from the Office of the State Comptroller.
Circumventing the state-mandated process erodes public confidence in local government, the Comptroller’s Office said in a statement.
“Transparency as to the salaries of public officials is a critical safeguard against misuse of taxpayer funds,” Comptroller Kevin D. Walsh wrote in a letter sent this week to Thomas A. Arnone, the board’s director.
The Monmouth County Commissioners’ office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The five-member, all-Republican commissioner board gave themselves $3,000 annual raises in 2020 and bumped up Sheriff Shaun Golden’s salary more than $42,000 since 2016 — but in doing so, disregarded a statute mandating a five-step public process, the report says. Golden is chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee.
Read more: https://newjerseymonitor.com/briefs/state-comptroller-scolds-monmouth-county-commissioners-for-secret-salary-hikes/
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