Motorists traveling through New Jersey see $43 million of money paid through tolls wasted on the bureaucracy, according to an audit released Tuesday by the state comptroller. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is responsible for running the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. Its employees took funds from the continuously increasing tolls and used it to enrich themselves in a number of ways.
"While tolls are going up, the Turnpike Authority is overpaying its employees, overpaying its management, overpaying for its health plan and overpaying for legal services," State Comptroller A. Matthew Boxer said in a statement.
The most notorious example involved a toll road property inspector who, without violating any laws, pocketed $321,985 in 2008, thanks to lavish payouts and bonuses offered at the tolling authority. Management responsible for reining in such excesses paid themselves $3 million in bonuses through the same system.
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