Payroll costs at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey rose 2.5 percent last year, according to an analysis by an Albany watchdog group that singled out police overtime as at least one questionable expense.
In one example, the group said a Port Authority police sergeant made more than a quarter-million dollars last year, including overtime, more than doubling his base pay and out-earning all but the two highest-ranking executives of the bi-state agency.
The Port Authority’s total payroll rose $15.1 million in 2009, to $664.7 million, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, an affiliate of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a fiscally conservative think tank. The analysis is based on data obtained from the Port Authority through a Freedom of Information Act request, said Lise Bang-Jensen,a senior policy analyst with the group. The analysis is posted online at www.SeeThroughNY.net…
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