NEWARK — One retired Newark employee received $32,000 in payments from the city through 2012, despite having been dead since 2009, according to a state comptroller's report issued yesterday.

A “uniformed” employee had 400 days of sick time accrued when he retired. He collected payouts for the unused time for two years after he left — and continued to get raises as if he were still working, according to the report.

Two clerks and a data-processing technician received a total of $4,050 in clothing allowances “to which they were not entitled at all,” the report said.

These cases of questionable spending and sloppy record keeping were among the many cited in a 20-page report prepared by Comptroller A. Matthew Boxer’s office that identified “weaknesses” in the city’s payroll practices and questionable spending by the City Council.

The audit, conducted on city books from January 2010 to September 2013, reviewed city payroll and timekeeping procedures, salaries paid to city employees and council and city clerk expenditures. It comes after years in which New Jersey’s largest city has required a state bailout to make ends meet.

Among the issues cited in the report:

• Poor documentation for overtime, sick time and attendance.

• Questionable accounting for “supplemental payments” such as clothing allowances, stress pay and hazard pay.

• The budgets for the city council and clerk’s office are six times larger than comparably sized Jersey City.

Though the total amount of questionable spending reviewed by the comptroller’s office amounts to less than $1 million out of a budget of roughly $600 million, the sloppy fiscal practices could be indicative of more widespread problems, the report said.

The report includes a number of recommendations, including more modern time-keeping practices, better documentation for overtime and better oversight of discretionary accounts.

City business administrator Julien Neals said many of Boxer’s recommendations are already underway.

“A lot of these things are systems already in place,” Neals said, referring to electronic hand scanners for almost half of city employees and new policies regarding overtime and sick time. “As far as the administration is concerned, there’s nothing in the comptroller’s report that indicates any wrong-doing.”

The council may be a different story, as the report raises several questions about its spending. The council has authority to approve city budgets and has the final say over its own spending.

The Star-Ledger reported last month that Council President Mildred Crump had been cited by the comptroller for $20,000 in questionable donations to two non-profits she helped found or was involved in. Yesterday, Boxer’s office requested the state Department of Community Affairs investigate for ethics violations. The request was not unexpected.

Crump did not return requests for comment but wrote an official response in the report saying she had no financial interest in the non-profits, and disagreed there was any conflict.

The council was also criticized for “several expenditures that appear questionable, particularly in light of the city’s financial condition.”

Newark has required emergency aid for the past two years and is under heavy state scrutiny. Since 2010 the city has required $32 million in state aid to shore up deficits. Newark did not not need aid in 2013 but city budget makers estimate at least a $20 million deficit going into 2014.

Still, the council spent $11,500 on photography services between 2010 and 2012. In the same period they spent almost $3,000 on holiday decorations, $3,900 for hotel charges for the Puerto Rican State Police Softball team and $2,826 on uniforms and T-shirts for the Newark Police Olympic Team during the Annual Law Enforcement Officers Olympics.

Only Councilman Anibal Ramos responded to The Star-Ledger’s request for comment, saying he was among several members that have fought to reduce expenses.

“I put an end to a bloated public relations contract that cost city taxpayers a half a million (dollars) a year,” said Ramos, who is also running for mayor. “I do not drive a city car and I do not have a city-issued cell phone. I have less staff on the payroll than I am entitled to.”

Neals said the council and clerk have cut their expenses by $1.2 million in recent years.

In his official response to the comptroller, City Clerk Robert Marasco provided data showing that his office handles all police record requests unlike in Jersey City. They process 3,500 additional public records requests to Jersey City's 740 and the Newark City council holds, on average, 14 more meetings per year than Jersey City, all of which have to be staffed and televised.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Comptroller's report: Newark councilwoman potentially violated ethics laws

• Crump fires back over allegations of ethics violations

