“This audit is a serious document, and it deserves a serious response, not just from the administration, but from the entire governing body. The Chief Financial Officer will submit a corrective action plan to the council and the state Division of Local Government Services, as required. That’s a necessary first step, but it can’t be the last one,” Rutgers’ Center for Urban Policy Research Associate Director Marc Pfeiffer said in a statement.
Topic
budgets
Marc Pfeiffer Speaks with WNYC’s Michael Hill About High Retirement Payouts in NJ
Some long-serving public officials in New Jersey are collecting huge payouts when they retire. The payouts can include saved-up leave and sick days over the course of the job. Marc Pfeiffer speaks with WNYC about how West Orange ended up in this situation.
Jersey City Shadowed by 15% Tax Hike as Boomtown Faces Reckoning
“The effects we are seeing here are decisions that were driven by political forces that were not in the best long-term financial interest of the city,” said Marc Pfeiffer, associate director of Rutgers University’s Bloustein Local unit of the Center for Urban Policy Research, who also serves as chair of the city’s budget advisory committee. “Now they’re coming due.”
Jersey City mayor proposes 20% tax hike to close $255 million budget gap
According to Marc Pfeiffer at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, comparing the budget gaps of Jersey City and New York City is “not only apples and oranges, it’s cookies and vegetables.”
Montclair Holiday Party to Honor Town Manager Raises Eyebrows
“On this surface, this appears to strike a balance. It’s something they’ve done before,” Pfeiffer said. The employees likely have been buffeted by management changes with the governing body changes over the last year. You always have some people who may not like the idea. But here, the phrase ‘don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good applies.”
Charter school salary revelations spur lawmakers to scrutinize
“More transparency, more oversight is necessary before we really know how widespread these abuses are. It’s not to say that district schools don’t have things like this happen. It’s just a lot easier to find them because there’s greater required transparency and greater oversight,” Rubin said.