In an astonishing turn of events, the East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD) announced an over $30 million budget surplus on Monday night, November 18, as Monsey Scoop reported, prompting Assemblyman Elect Aron Wieder to call for an immediate investigation into the school district’s financial oversight by its state-appointed monitors.
Wieder, citing his concern over what he described as a misleading forecast by the ERCSD State appointed monitors, is demanding that New York State Commissioner of Education Betty Rosa’s additional 4.38% tax increase on the taxpayers of the East Ramapo School District]be immediately refunded to ERCSD taxpayers.
“A thirty million dollar surplus should not have been a surprise,” Wieder said, referring to the monitors’ sloppy oversight in handling the district’s finances. “The state-appointed monitor’s dismal forecast of the ERCSD’s budget led Rosa to believe the district was facing a significant deficit. Tax increases imposed based on this erroneous information should be immediately refunded to the taxpayers.”
According to Wieder, ERCSD taxpayers were burdened with increased taxes based on monitors’ predictions of an impending budget deficit. He attributed the worrisome financial forecast to the monitors’ mistaken oversight, which led to inaccurate financial projections.
Wieder demands an official review of how the surplus went undetected until now, arguing that these missteps point to critical lapses in the monitors’ responsibilities.
“I am calling for an immediate investigation into how this surplus was uncovered only now and why these reimbursements were overlooked,” Wieder emphasized. “We need answers for ERCSD taxpayers, and we need mechanisms in place to prevent this from happening again.”
Assemblyman-elect Wieder is urging state officials to implement a plan to refund the tax increases to the ERCSD community. He also raised questions about the legality of the tax hikes, noting they may have been imposed under unconstitutional grounds given the flawed financial projections from the state appointed monitors.
