State Says Monmouth Failed To Notify Public Of Salary Increases

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — This January, the New Jersey state Comptroller said the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners improperly raised their own salaries, and the salary of Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden, without following the required public process.

Specifically, in this Jan. 13 public letter, State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said the five-person board of Monmouth County elected commissioners (formerly called freeholders) failed to notify the public or hold public hearings when, in 2020, they OK'd a $3,000 personal salary increase for themselves, going from from $27,000 to $30,000 a year.

The comptroller also said the Board did not properly notify the public when it continually raised the Sheriff’s salary over the past five years, which has increased by $42,210 from $136,133 in 2016 to $178,343 in 2021.

State law requires that whenever taxpayer-funded salaries are increased for public officials, a public resolution must first be introduced. There must then be a notice of a public hearing in an official newspaper; the public hearing must be held or there must be a public vote on the salary increase.

None of that was done in Monmouth County, said Walsh.

Sheriff Golden is also chair of the Monmouth County Republican Party. The Monmouth County Commissioners are all Republican, and one of them, Commissioner Sue Kiley, is running for Congress this year, challenging Rep. Frank Pallone (D) in New Jersey's Sixth District.

Walsh said the actions of the Monmouth County elected officials "undermine ... transparency to the public."

The comptroller also said he initiated this investigation "after receiving several complaints" about the salary increases.

Monmouth County Commissioners director Tom Arnone addressed the issue at the commissioners' Jan. 6 reorganization meeting, where he said Monmouth County has actually never complied with the statute when approving the salary of its sheriff, county clerk, county prosecutor or other taxpayer-paid positions in the county.

Arnone said the county's lawyer told him that even though this has been a requirement "since the early 1970s" to hold these hearings or introduce public resolutions, that has historically never been done in Monmouth County. He also called them "old 1970s mandates."

"Obviously this has been publicized pretty heavily in one of our newspapers (Asbury Park Press), which is obviously free press to be able to do that," said Arnone at the public meeting. "But let me be clear on the history here ... It has been brought to our attention by county counsel that these required resolutions have never been done in Monmouth County, even though the statues have been on the books for decades. We have also learned that numerous other counties — I think it is seven — have not passed resolutions on an annual basis."

He said going forward Monmouth County will start publicly posting notices when it plans to increase salaries. And he wants the other seven counties in New Jersey to start doing the same.

Arnone also said the salaries of public employees are available "on numerous websites." The county also said the yearly salary increases for the sheriff were in line with normal cost-of-living increases.

Golden did not respond for this article. Kiley said she stands by Arnone's statement.

Hear Arnone speak about this topic at 34:12:

The State Comptroller is a part of state government tasked with making New Jersey more transparent and accountable. Walsh was appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Related: NJ 6 Midterm Watch: Kiley Comes Out Swinging Against Pallone

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