Red Bank has a hired a new chief financial officer to replace Terence Whalen, who resigned in June shortly before the disclosure of sloppy bookkeeping that will cost taxpayers.

Larry Higgs of the Asbury Park Press has the story about the Borough Council’s hiring of Frank Mason, who’s been the CFO of North Bergen, in Hudson County, since 2000. Before that, he was a grant-application writer for the Diocese of Metuchen.

Mason starts the job Sept. 1 at a salary of $85,000. He lives in Cranford but is “thinking about moving,” he told the Press.

Whalen resigned June 12, citing personal reasons, apparently as faulty record-keeping in his office was coming to light. A 150-page audit of 2005 record-keeping found numerous errors and faulty practices, ranging from late deposits of checks to early spending of bond proceeds.

The proposed budget increase of 4 cents per $100 valuation would boost the local portion of property taxes by $80 on a home assessed at $200,000. Borough officials say the errors committed under Whalen account for three-quarters of that jump.

There have been no allegations that funds were improperly diverted for personal use.

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