The audit of the Turnpike Authority said the agency squandered tens of millions of dollars on bonuses, sick-leave and vacation payouts, free rides for employees, a poorly managed health-care plan, and overpayments to outside lawyers.
"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," A. Matthew Boxer, the independent state comptroller, said in a statement.
Tolls increased on the roads in 2008 and are scheduled to go up again in 2012.
The president of the toll collectors union said Boxer had unfairly maligned workers, whose benefits were negotiated.
"For them to say we're overpaid and not entitled to a middle-class life is just wrong," said Fran Ehret, president of International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 194. "We kind of take umbrage at that."
"We collect the tolls, we plow the snow, we fix all the electronics, and all we're looking for is a middle-class life," Ehret said. "We're not asking for anything that we haven't negotiated with the turnpike."
She said the union, one of 10 that represents toll-road workers, would fight any effort to take away workers' benefits.
Transportation Commissioner James Simpson, who serves as chairman of the Turnpike Authority, said the agency would take "critical and long-overdue steps to end waste at the turnpike authority."
The moves will include elimination of:
Free commutes for employees.
An account that funded employee bowling leagues and scholarships.
Annual payouts for managers' unused vacation and sick time.
"Longevity bonuses" for nonunion employees.
Sick-leave, vacation, longevity, birthday, holiday, snow-removal, and other bonuses for 2,700 union employees as current labor contracts expire in 2011.
The Turnpike Authority, which has 10 in-house attorneys, will rein in spending for outside lawyers, which cost the agency $7 million last year.
