Metro

Sandy overbill in NJ

Nine Ocean County, NJ, towns will be refunded a total of $300,000 in overbillings by companies contāœ±racted to haul away debris after Hurricane Sandy.

The New Jersey Comptrollerā€™s Office, iš†n an audit releasedšŸŽ Tuesday, found errors and miscalculations in hauling charges, but no evidence of pervasive intentional overbilling.

The disaster recovery firm AshBritt received a no-bid contract worth up to $100 million to dispose of debris after last Octoberā€™s megastorm, while three debris-removal monitors were responsible fą¹„or calculating transport costs.

Comptroller Matt Boxer was asked to investigate news reporšŸ‘ts that towns were overchašŸ”„rged.

Boxer found vague standards for calculating transport charges, including whether tā™ravel within the landfill ā™“should be counted.

Towns were charged by the mile, with a significant cost jump when transport exceedeā™d 15 miles.