Port Authority payroll records show 20 workers, including 17 police officers, cleared $400,000 in pay last year while overtime pushed the agency’s bill above $1.2 billion.
Quick Take
- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spent more than $1.2 billion on employee pay in 2025.
- Twenty workers, including 17 police officers, earned at least $400,000 each.
- Three hundred twenty-three employees collected more than $100,000 in overtime.
- The agency says 2025 overtime hours ran 18 percent above plan.
Pay Records Show Heavy Overtime Across the Agency
The latest payroll figures show a familiar public-sector problem at the Port Authority. A small group of workers took home very large checks, and overtime played a major role. Public records show 20 employees reached $400,000 in total pay, while 17 of them worked in the police department. The highest-paid worker listed in the coverage was Police Lieutenant Nicholas Feferico, who received $466,775, including $215,717 in overtime.
The same payroll data also shows that overtime was not limited to a handful of outliers. Reported figures say 323 employees collected at least $100,000 in overtime, and 189 police employees crossed that mark. Another report based on 2024 payroll data found eleven employees above $400,000, with six of the top payees taking more than $200,000 in overtime alone. That pattern reinforces the view that overtime is baked into the agency’s compensation system.
Agency Data Says Overtime Ran Above Plan
The Port Authority’s own transparency page says total overtime hours through the fourth quarter of 2025 were 18 percent higher than plan. The agency tied that increase to support for major capital projects in its 2017 to 2025 capital plan, including a more than $30 billion investment in redevelopment work. That explanation matters because it shows management is not denying the overtime surge. It says the extra hours were tied to operations and construction needs.
Still, the hard numbers keep raising the same question about control and cost. The New York State Comptroller’s follow-up audit said a prior review found the Port Authority did not manage and control employee overtime costs. The audit also said some overtime transactions lacked proper prior approvals and justification. That finding does not prove every large paycheck was improper. It does show that watchdogs have flagged weak oversight before, and the concern has not gone away.
Why Conservatives See a Bigger Government Problem Here
For taxpayers, the issue is bigger than one bloated payroll line. The Port Authority sits at the center of airports, tunnels, bridges, and police protection that millions of people rely on every day. But when overtime becomes a routine way to pad pay, public trust takes a hit. Critics say that kind of spending shows how large agencies can drift into waste when managers lose control and labor rules make the bill hard to rein in.
This is absolute theft.
Twenty Port Authority workers — 17 of them cops — walked away with over $400,000 each last year. One lieutenant alone pulled in $466,775. Another guy in maintenance cleared $421,000. And 94 people under the actual boss made more than he didHow? Overtime.… pic.twitter.com/kjAcKyDUAn
— Keith Ainsworth (@AinsworthKeith) August 10, 2026
The Port Authority story also fits a broader pattern seen in other public agencies where overtime becomes a substitute for discipline, staffing reform, or tighter scheduling. Reports over several years have shown Port Authority police officers ranking among the agency’s top earners, often because of overtime rather than base salary. In plain terms, the numbers show a system that rewards extra hours at scale, even as taxpayers keep footing the bill.
Sources:
empirecenter.org, nypost.com, dnainfo.com, newswall.org, panynj.gov, city-journal.org
