Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh testifies against a bill that would restrict the state's Open Public Records Act on March 11, 2024, at the Statehouse in Trenton. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
A state watchdog wants Gov. Phil Murphy to withhold state funds from Union County over allegations that the county improperly awarded pay to top officials .
In a letter acting state comptroller Kevin Walsh sent Murphy and legislative leaders Thursday, Walsh said county officials have refused to comply with his office’s recommendations about their “violations of law.”
“The County’s decision not to cooperate with OSC means there is a serious risk that the County will continue to violate the law and fail to provide transparency to Union County taxpayers,” the letter reads.
Union County, meanwhile, said it’s Walsh’s office that refuses to cooperate.
Deb Gramiccioni, attorney for Union County, called Walsh’s letter “unconscionable arm-twisting by an unelected official in an acting capacity.” Gramiccioni said the county has reached out to the comptroller’s office through multiple letters over its contention that its pay practices are consistent with those of other counties like Union.
“The Acting Comptroller has refused to engage in any discussion regarding statutory interpretation or deigned to meet with county representatives and instead has resorted to legally unsupported public threats,” she said in a statement.
The public spat comes as some county leaders around the state have expressed frustration with Walsh , whose office is tasked with investigating allegations of public corruption. Walsh’s recent reports criticizing leaders of Essex, Hudson, and Union counties led New Jersey Association of Counties Executive Director John Donnadio to call for a legislative investigation of the comptroller’s office.
The Union County allegations first surfaced in a December report from Walsh’s office, which says the county awarded more than $400,000 in extra pay to top officials without adopting ordinances required by law.
The report called for the county to submit a corrective action plan by March 15. Instead, Gramiccioni sent a letter that day on behalf of the county arguing they should delay any filings because a bill pending in Trenton would render Walsh’s findings “moot.” The bill , introduced in February by Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), would change the law to not require the kind of extra pay authorized by Union County to be approved via ordinance. It has not received a final vote in the Senate yet, and there is no Assembly companion.
Walsh rebuked the county’s argument.
“If the mere introduction of a bill by a single legislator, without a vote on the floor of both houses and in the absence of the presentment of the bill to the Governor for enactment or veto, were enough to justify ignoring current law, then the rule of law in our state would be undermined,” Walsh wrote.
In a letter Gramiccioni previously sent to Walsh’s office, she said Walsh’s interpretation of the law amounts to “an administrative fiat usurping legislative intent by which Union County simply cannot abide.”
Walsh’s letter stresses that counties are ordered to comply with directives from his office. He urged Murphy to withhold expenditure of state funds, and asked that the county be directed to request prior approval by the comptroller when paying bonuses for top officials.
“Such a requirement should remain in effect until Union County submits, OSC approves, and Union County complies with the corrective action plan required by law,” Walsh said.
A Murphy spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. A spokesman for Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Union) declined to comment.
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