Quote:

But they all can't be, for good reason.

Good for them, bad for us.

I read this thread title as "For retirees, fat chicks..."

Good for them I wish all jobs were like this.

For retirees, fat checks for unused vacation, sick time

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Some findings pertaining to Hudson County communities in the State Commission of Investigation report on fiscal waste in municipal government that were released Tuesday:

HARRISON

23 public employees who retired between 2005 and 2008 collected $1.8 million in combined payouts for unused sick and vacation leave.

In 2005, former Police Chief John Trucillo alone cashed in more than $305,000 worth of unused sick and vacation leave.

In response to a DCA recommendation to curtail payouts, Harrison granted its officers unlimited annual sick time in exchange for ending lump-sum payouts at retirement. Harrison's paid Fire Department and civilian municipal personnel were not included in the arrangement.

Former Administrative Clerk/Deputy Municipal Clerk Marion Borek retired with a check for $241,851, the bulk of it for 881 days of accumulated unused sick leave.

HOBOKEN

From 2004 to 2009, retiring Hoboken employees collected $3.87 million worth of terminal leave, including individual payments as high as $97,000; and $3.14 million in accumulated vacation leave.

Hoboken's former police chief Carmen LaBruno received a retirement package of $350,000 - $125,000 in accrued unused vacation leave, $150,000 in terminal leave and $75,000 in unused accumulated compensatory time. LaBruno's final salary as police chief was $210,794.

Hoboken police and fire personnel, in addition to lump-sum leave redemptions, are entitled by contract to cash stipends at retirement - $2,000 for rank and-file police officers who retire with less than 28 years of service and $2,000 for firefighters with less than 30 years.

Also, uniformed and civilian employees in Hoboken routinely receive longevity raises ranging from 2 percent to as much as 18 percent per year on top of regular salary adjustments. Depending on the employee group, they also qualify variously for a mix of special leave benefits, including personal days off for private events, such as weddings and baptisms.

UNION CITY

All civilian municipal employees receive one day's leave at full pay every year for Christmas shopping.

Civilian employees qualify for a $200 cash stipend for using no sick leave in a year, $150 for using only one sick day and $100 for using just two sick days.

WEST NEW YORK

Police officers receive time off not only for weddings but also for baptisms, confirmations and first Holy Communions, provided they take an active role in the ceremony.

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SCI report: Money being wasted in Hudson

Thursday, December 03, 2009
By RON ZEITLINGER
Journal staff writers

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

Four Hudson County municipalities - Harrison, Hoboken, Union City and West New York - got smacked in the State Commission of Investigation report on fiscal waste in municipal government that was released Tuesday.

Harrison took the biggest hit, with more than a half-dozen examples of spending and employee perks the report considers excessive - including the $241,851 paid to former Administrative Clerk/Deputy Municipal Clerk Marion Borek when she retired after 61 years with the town, the bulk of it for 881 days of accumulated unused sick leave.

Hoboken's highlight includes the much-maligned retirement package for former Police Chief Carmen LaBruno, who left after the infamous SWAT team scandal.

Union City's smack comes for a perk that's probably being used by someone there right now - a paid day off for employees to go Christmas shopping.

And, the report says, while most everyone in the working world takes personal, vacation or unpaid days off for weddings and religious ceremonies they have a role in, West New York cops get a paid day for such events.

The panel focused on 75 municipalities for the report.

Harrison Mayor Raymond McDonough and town Attorney Paul Zarbetski did not return calls for comment on the report.

West New York town attorney Daniel E. Horgan said officials there "found any number of things that could be and should be corrected, and we have been doing that as we go along," noting, "some of these things still reside in labor contracts that were made during the prior administrations."

Similarly, Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack said the holiday shopping day "was negotiated as part of a contract by a previous administration." He said Union City is in the process of renegotiating the municipal contract to put an end to the practice.

But Vince Lombardi, president of the Hoboken Policemen's Benevolent Association, called the report "skewed and biased."

"What it (the report) fails to mention," Lombardi said, "is how they came to receive those entitlements."

When police contracts were negotiated years ago, Lombardi said, officers were given non-economic benefits, such as free time, instead of higher salaries.

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said she is "taking action . so this doesn't happen in the future."

Karina L. Arrue and Claire Moses contributed to this story.