Somewhere in the bowels of the Port Authority currency department, a specific location kept… Somewhere in the bowels of the Port Authority currency department, a specific location kept secret for security reasons, there are barrels and barrels of cold, hard cash – less than $1 million worth, to be exact.

Ever since the Port Authority increased its Zone 1 fare to $2 Jan. 1, the amount of $1 bills that the authority receives has increased, which in turn has increased the burden of work for the six union employees called “currency unfolders.”

The job of a “currency unfolder,” according to the Post-Gazette, is “to separate, unfold, stack and count the $1 bills.” Coins, on the other hand, are counted with automatic coin-sorting machines.

The problem is that the employees in the currency department consistently miss work for a variety of reasons, including vacations, sickness and family leave.

With no one to count the cash, the money just keeps piling up.

On the surface, this seems like a simple problem. Instead of letting the cash just sit there and collect dust, the authority should put it in the bank and allow it to collect interest. Believe it or not, banks can count money, too.

The irony is astounding. The Port Authority, with its numerous financial problems, is leaving its hard-earned cash in barrels. Why is it so difficult to simply get someone to count it?

But Port Authority spokeswoman Judi McNeil told the Tribune-Review, “We can’t reassign folks