COURT HOUSE – The Herald recently reported on the fact that county municipalities have a 2021 total of $19.6 million in accumulated leave liability created by employees who are allowed to bank unused leave for a later payout at a higher hourly rate.
A check of the Cape May County 2022 budget shows that county employees enjoy the same ability to bank unused leave. The dollar value of compensated absences on the county’s books is $7.1 million. Adding that to the municipal liability number brings a total of $26.7 million in leave liability for which taxpayers are potentially on the hook.
Not everyone who has banked hours will get payouts. It depends on how they terminated employments with the municipalities or the county. Yet, a large number will get these little understood payouts as a bonus at retirement, with each hour paid at the highest rate the employee earned rather than the rate at which the hours were banked.
The county lists accumulated absence hours for sick leave, vacation, and even compensatory time. It is unlikely that any taxpayers have private sector employment with this benefit.
For the county, the largest leave balances are for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union members at $3.3 million. These are followed by non-union management employees, sheriff’s officers, employees of the County Prosecutor’s Office, and workers in county welfare agencies.
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