A combination of overspending and unreliable reporting of its finances in 2021 and 2022 saddled Jersey City with more than $27 million in debt it eventually deferred to this year, according a damning annual audit.
“Overexpenditures in a given budget year defer costs to future taxpayers,” the report said. “Several overexpenditures in the appropriation reserves resulted from budget transfers from accounts that had insufficient funds … The city’s internal controls were not effective as they relate to the timeliness of the determination of availability of funds prior to the ordering or payment of goods and services or incurring of salaries and wages.
“This is the same process that happens every year and this is nothing new,” she said. “It is a standard annual audit all New Jersey municipalities are required to submit, as is the state-mandated corrective action plan,” Wallace-Scalcione said. Auditors found, the city was late in filing its 2022 unaudited financial statements by at least two months. The city’s current procedures to close its year-end finances “results in a financial closing process at year-end that is lengthened and not in agreement with underlying records.”
Downtown Councilman James Solomon said the findings in the report are “deeply troubling … and demand an immediate response.” He said he requested a breakdown of the overspending by departments. The Jersey City Department of Public Safety consistently outspends its budget for overtime, adding millions to the budget.