Chatham Township Discovers $90K in Stock

At the Township Committee meeting last week, an odd resolution on the consent agenda for the "sale of stock" captured the attention of the committee.

Township Administrator Thomas E. Ciccarone said the township auditor, Vincent Montanino, found about 1,700 shares of stock in Prudential Financial—worth about $90,000—held by the township.

Ciccarone said Tuesday that the township formerly had a health insurance policy with Prudential.

In 2001 when Prudential became a publicly traded company, that policy was converted to stock—stock that is "not an approved investment," Ciccarone told the committee.

"It's something we're not allowed to hold on to," Mayor Nicole Hagner said.

The township undergoes an audit every year. The auditor checks a sampling of all transactions. The stock was not among those items included in the audit until this year.

"Maybe I should have picked it up sooner," Ciccarone said to the committee during the Thursday, Sept. 9 meeting.

The resolution to authorize the sale of the stock was passed by the committee. All funds from the sale will be available as revenue in the township's 2011 budget.