Parking Utility

What did you expect, Forrest?

July 10, 2008 NJVoices: Thurman Hart

"Stupid is as stupid does, that's what my mama always said."

I just don't know of anything that characterizes John Corea's "relationship" with the City of Hoboken better than that. At this point, he is a "figure in the investigation" of more than a half million dollars that just can't be found. Because, you know, that kind of money is usually left laying about in discarded Shop-Rite bags.

All other things being what they are, the best predictor of future behavior is past performance. And Corea's past performance has been less than stellar. It seems that when Corea worked at the NY Stock Exchange, he developed a habit of buying stocks with other people's money and then leaving them holding the bag - and the bill - when the stocks went sour.

City Attorney Steven Kleinman confirmed on Thursday that the state police are looking into possibly missing money from the Hoboken Parking Utility's collections from parking meters.

The city may file litigation against the coin collection company, United Textile Fabricators, a Toms River-based company that allegedly misplaced as much as $582,352 last October that they counted for the city. The money was returned in installments beginning in November 2007, but without interest.

The owner of United Textile Fabricators is Brian Petaccio, former co-owner of Grayhound Electronics, who was indicted to state Grand Jury racketeering charges on March 7, 1991.

According to Kleinman, the company has since surrendered the funds to the city, but without interest. He said that the city has stopped using the company and is with holding payments until the matter is settled.

"The administration is looking at all aspects of United Textile Fabricators," Kleinman said Thursday.

HPU Parking Director John Corea had previously said at the Dec. 6 council meeting that his agency's most recent internal audit only showed $34.61 missing.

The Hoboken Parking Utility is under investigation by the New Jersey State Police, say sources with knowledge of the investigation.

"It is accurate that the city is currently reviewing issues involving the Hoboken Parking Utility," Hoboken Corporation Counsel Steve Kleinman confirmed yesterday. "There is a law enforcement aspect to this matter, however, (so) I am constrained from commenting further at this time."

Kleinman said the investigation is related to United Textile Fabricators, the company that collected the revenue from the city's parking meters from December 2005 until a few months ago. Last October, it was learned that UTF owed Hoboken at least $582,352 in revenues that the company collected but didn't give to the city. UTF paid Hoboken in full by the end of last year.

And people wonder why Hoboken has a budget crisis.

Aside from property taxes, parking meter collection is one of Hoboken's biggest revenue sources. But for a two-year period between 2005 and 2007, Hoboken was owed almost $600,000 dollars from a South Jersey company it hired to run its parking meter collection. The city is now looking to collect interest on that money.

In Dec. 2005, Hoboken hired Toms River-based United Textile Fabricators to collect their parking meter coins and return the money to the City. Almost immediately, Hoboken's parking meter revenue dropped. According to an internal audit from the Hoboken Parking Utility, in Nov. 2005, the city made $115,512.82 from the meters; UTF took over the next month and only handed in only $74,470.00.

United Textile Fabricators had been previously taking the coins to their place of business in Toms River, NJ and depositing the funds in their accounts.

The Hoboken FY2007 budget (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007) had some interesting comments on the City's parking meter coin collection, coin counting, and meter repair contract.

The City contracted with United Textile Fabricators, Toms River, NJ for coin collection services and deposit of the City’s monies for 2006 and on a month-to-month basis for 2007. Collections for fiscal year 2007 were $660,894, compared to $991,316 for fiscal year 2006, representing in a decrease of $330,422, or 33%. 

City Council resolutions now have Hoboken residents paying more money for parking permit fees and in daily and monthly parking garage rates

Many years ago, former Councilman/Assemblyman Robert Ranieri said at a Council Meeting…."In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King."

The Hoboken Finance Department has a responsibility to record every dollar that comes into and leaves the city's coffers. But something went seriously wrong when a Council member asked why anticipated cash revenues from the Hoboken Parking Utility "parking meters" decreased by over ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

As a point of reference, on November 14, 2005 the Hoboken City Council passed Resolution No. 05-179 approving a $300,000 one year contract with Donohue, Gironda & Doria - a Bayonne firm that specializes in municipal accounting - to privatize the city's Finance Department. The City recently entered into the third one-year contract with the accounting company that has been working alongside the city's chief financial officer to manage the city's books.

MISSING FUNDS?

Councilman Cunningham said "For God sake, clearly, this audit indicates that we have got money going out the back door and something needs to be done about it." Click on the parking meter for the full story.

A million bucks, [that's FOUR MILLION quarters weighing almost 50,000 pounds], reported missing from the Hoboken Parking Utility "parking meter" collections revenue?  That was the question asked by Hoboken Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo at the City Council's Budget Hearing on December 6, 2006. 

Two weeks later at the December 19, 2007 City Council Meeting, Parking Utility Director John Correa advised the Council that he initated an internal audit of parking meter revenues in response to Russo's inquiry.  The audit showed a difference of Thirty-Four Dollars and Sixty-One cents ($34.61).  Sixty-One cents?  Damm, those "penny parking meters" can really screw up the accounting system. 

HOBOKEN - After three months, the patience of customers hoping to return to the Garden Street automated garage by the end this month will be tested a little longer.

The company that contracted to get the futuristic garage at 916 Garden St. up and running again is unlikely to meet a March deadline announced by the Hoboken Parking Authority.

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The Hoboken City Council is putting its faith in an Israeli company to run the robotic Garden Street garage, which has been plagued by problems since it was built three years ago.

The council voted Wednesday to award Unitronics a $2 million contract to replace and fix mechanical and electrical problems and replace software that controls the 314-space garage at 916 Garden St.