Auditor: New Jersey Budget Saving Ideas Ignored

This should come as no surprise. New Jersey State Auditor Richard Fair told lawmakers Tuesday that his department’s money saving recommendations have been ignored, costing taxpayers millions of dollars in unnecessary government spending.

Lawmakers beginning to grapple with a 2006-07 budget deficit that could exceed $5 billion — and facing the prospect of possible tax increases — questioned why no one followed up on the audits.

Fair explained that the audit department’s money saving recommendations had faced resistance from state government departments and pointed out the State Auditor does not have the power to force departments to make recommended changes. Fair said his recommendations included more than $100 million in recurring revenues the state could generate and millions more in one-time savings.

"When people find out no one's minding the store, they start taking advantage," Fair said.

"There's less concern about finding efficiencies than there used to be and there's less understanding about the rules and regulations than there used to be," he added later. "You wouldn't have seen all these no-bid contracts 25 years ago because there was someone making sure that it didn't happen."

For those interesting in giving Trenton a hand in the budget process, the state has a new website where anyone can suggest budget cuts, with their names or anonymously - http://www.njbudgetcuts.com/.

Roberto at DynamoBuzz has already submitted his ideas; why not join him with yours?