Ocean County Sheriff, Others Get Millions of Dollars In Double-Dip Salaries

Three-fourths of New Jersey’s county sheriffs are taking advantage of pension loopholes to collect dual incomes.

A New Jersey Watchdog investigation found the sheriffs in 16 of the state’s 21 counties are double-dippers. In addition, the sheriffs also employ 37 undersheriffs who returned to work after retiring as local, county or state law enforcement officials.

The 53 officers collect nearly $10 million a year from public coffers – $5.7 million in salaries plus $4.1 million in retirement pay – according to payroll and pension records collected by New Jersey Watchdog.

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy, who receives a salary of $107,250 as the sheriff in addition to his pension from his long career with the Toms River Police Department, where he was chief before he retired, said the criticism is short-sighted.

“Financially I would do better if I left New Jersey,” Mastronardy, who has been sheriff since January 2013, said Monday afternoon. He said there are a number of law enforcement personnel who retire and move out of state and take jobs as police chiefs elsewhere -- meaning they too receive their New Jersey pension in addition to a public salary.

“Because they’re out of state, they aren’t subjected to the criticism,” he said. “Nobody cares when they take a job out of state.”

Long-time law enforcement personnel who leave the state are often taking a wealth of knowledge with them, he said.

“You lose experience” when that happens, said Mastronardy, an Ocean County native who has 40 years in law enforcement, including 22 as the Toms River police chief. ”I would rather stay and solve problems,” despite the scrutiny over receiving both the salary and the pension, he said.

“I didn’t make the system,” Mastronardy said.

The report comes from a website that is part of a national chain called Watchdog.org, which targets government spending, waste and corruption. The New Jersey site is operated by prominent investigative journalist Mark Lagerkvist, a former special projects reporter at The Asbury Park Press who also worked at CNBC.

Patch republishes New Jersey Watchdog’s information with permission.

By order of annual incomes, the double-dipping posse includes:

• Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino (R), $267,987 – $138,000 salary + $129,987 pension as an Emerson Borough police retiree
• Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik (D), $253,957 – $151,887 salary + $102,070 pension as a Clifton police retiree
• Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy (R), $231,315 – $107,250 salary + $124,065 pension as a Toms River Township police retiree
• Mercer County Sheriff John Kemler (D), $227,330 – $142,499 salary + $84,831 pension as a Mercer County sheriff’s office retiree
• Camden County Sheriff Charles J. Billingham (D), $219,232 – $144,753 salary + $74,479 pension as a Washington Township police retiree
• Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano (R), $208,576 – $132,555 salary + $76,021 pension as Bridgewater Township police retiree
• Warren County Sheriff David P. Gallant (R), $208,432 – $125,945 salary + $82,487 pension as a State Police retiree
• Morris County Sheriff Edward V. Rochford (R), $200,838 – $139,203 salary + $61,545 pension as a Morris Township police retiree
• Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred S. Scott (D), $200,796 – $139,455 salary + $61,341 pension as a retiree of the Middlesex County sheriff’s office
• Hunterdon County Sheriff Frederick W. Brown (R), $197,796 – $115,868 salary + $81,928 pension as a retiree of Raritan Township police
• Salem County Sheriff Charles M. Miller, $195,452 (R) – $119,386 salary + $76,066 pension as a retiree of the Salem County prosecutor’s office
• Gloucester County Sheriff Carmel M. Morina (D), $191,996 – $128,547 salary + $63,449 pension as a Greenwich Township police retiree
• Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada (R), $170,124 – $121,212 salary + $46,973 pension as Mount Olive Township police retiree
• Cumberland County Sheriff Robert Austino (D), $166,938 – $107,250 salary + $59,688 pension as a Vineland police retiree
• Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer (R), $161,654 – $107,500 salary + $54,154 pension as an Ocean City police retiree.

Click here for the complete list of sheriffs and undersheriffs who collect pensions plus salaries from New Jersey Watchdog.

New Jersey Watchdog began tracking double-dipping by sheriffs in 2011. The initial report found 16 sheriffs and 28 undersheriffs collecting a total of $8 million a year – $3.25 million from pensions plus $4.75 million in salaries.

Four years later, the tally has increased by nine undersheriffs and $1.8 million a year in total pay, according to the site.

A bill co-sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Red Bank, would stop most double-dipping and suspend pension payments to retirees who return to public jobs paying more than $15,000 a year. The retirement benefits would resume when they permanently leave public employment.