NYaltnews reports on the State Comptroller’s report that says Ramapo could leave taxpayers with an increased burden because of the Town’s financing of the $60 million stadium to showcase the Rockland Boulders semi-pro team. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said that Ramapo ignored warnings that the project might not be fiscally advisable and has put town finances at risk.
The crux of the revenue matter is this: Ramapo is vulnerable to $27.5 million in bond payments in the next five years, even though the project may only generate $7 million in revenues, thus, creating a running deficit.
The Town’s responses to the Comptroller’s report are worth the read. Contained in the report itself, the Town essentially replies that the project and decision to build the stadium was the Rockland Development Corporation’s. The Town said that “the decision to build the project was the RLDC’s in the first instance, not the Town’s. The RDLC, in its wisdom, determined that the stadium would bring positive economic development to the Town . . . .”
How much has Ramapo paid for its controversial baseball stadium? The final tally remains unknown, but it is likely to be closer to the $60 million estimated by the state Comptroller’s Office than the $39 million often cited by Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence. The latter estimate doesn’t even include the cost of the town-purchased land on which the ballpark sits.
The town can address the discrepancy by releasing financial records for the projects. Taxpayers — who ended up guaranteeing a short-term loan for the project, notwithstanding their overwhelming defeat of a ballot question asking them to guarantee a long-term bond — have a right to know exactly what they have effectively bought and what they could end up paying for. The Journal News has sent multiple Freedom of Information Law requests for records of revenue generated by the ballpark and all expenditures related to its construction. Those requests have not been fulfilled. Transparency and propriety demands that they should and without further delay.
