DiNapoli slams Port Authority costs for OT

Before the Port Authority forces the public to pay more to fund its operations, the agency should make good on its vow to slash worker overtime costs, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Wednesday.

"Overtime flows like water at the Port Authority and management has no clear strategy to achieve its own benchmarks and goals for curbing costs," said DiNapoli in a statement released in connection with the results of an audit of the agency.

State auditors found, after poring over records of the bistate agency, that during 2010 the Port Authority paid out $85.7 million in overtime to 5,360 employees, mostly for the agency's police department and in the PATH train system that runs from Manhattan to New Jersey. Despite telling the governors of both New York and New Jersey that the authority would reduce its overtime by 20 percent, the agency only managed a 3 percent reduction from 2009, DiNapoli said.

Neither the PATH system nor the agency public safety division, which makes up its police operations, set up plans to meet the 20 percent reduction goal, DiNapoli said. He said some employees earning at least $75,000 in base salary more than doubled their earnings through overtime.

"The agency should take a long, hard look at whether its business model for managing overtime really makes sense," DiNapoli said, alluding to the significant toll and train fare hikes recently proposed by the agency.

Angry commuters packed meeting rooms Tuesday in Manhattan and New Jersey to protest the fee hikes, which would more than double the cost of entering the city, from $8 to $17. Train commuters could see their fares rise as much as 65 percent. Much of that money would go toward funding the $11 billion World Trade Center reconstruction. Commuters at the meetings said that Americans elsewhere should help pay for the site.

In a response to the audit, Port Authority officials said some overtime costs were affected by security and operational issues related to global terrorism incidents such as the Times Square car bomb attempt. The agency said it was requiring fuller documentation for budgeting overtime expenses and defended the way its business model operates, noting that its workforce is at its lowest level in 40 years.

In a statement, a Port Authority spokesman said the agency "will continue to cut costs and make sure we value every dollar as we work to meet the region's needs."

Agency officials didn't return calls for comment Wednesday.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said last week the proposed toll hike was a "nonstarter." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has also voiced concern about the proposed increases.

In the overtime audit, officials also looked at 2009 overtime costs and found that 25 agency employees earned more in overtime than their salaries, with another 281 earning more than $50,000 in overtime.

With AP