State comptroller's report projects $25 million surplus for 2024-2025 East Ramapo school year
The New York State Comptroller's Office has finished a monthlong review into East Ramapo School District's 2024-2025 school year budget.
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The New York State Comptroller's office has finished a monthlong review of the East Ramapo School District's 2024-2025 school year budget.
The report can be found here.
It projects that this school year will end with a nearly $26 million operating surplus.
The comptroller says they found inadequate budget practices and that paying salaries with nonrecurring revenues caused the excess funds.
The review recommends a few things like providing timely information to the fiscal monitor and to stop relying on one-time revenues for recurring expenditures.
Last year, voters approved a 1% tax increase and then the state education commissioner ordered an additional 4% raise following a legal appeal from a parent.
Then, at a school board meeting in November, an outside audit for the district's 2023-2024 school year showed a $30 million fund balance.
As News 12 reported shortly after that, the state Education Department referred the surplus to the comptroller's office because of concerns about financial information.
On Monday, in response to this report, state Education Department spokesperson JP O'Hare says they support the districts decision for a forensic audit adding, "We also encourage the board of education to adopt a clear, responsible policy for managing year-end surpluses and fund balances, ensuring better transparency and fiscal management moving forward."
State Sen. Bill Weber, who represents most of Rockland County, echoed that same sentiment, "It's a matter of having checks and balances in place to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
In a statement, state Sen. Shelley Mayer, chair of the Education Committee, said, "I am hopeful that the Interim Superintendent and new fiscal monitor will be able to provide the stability and competence this district so desperately needs moving forward. But we should be clear – it is the students who attend public schools in East Ramapo who have been most harmed by this mismanagement. I remain committed to working collaboratively with the district, community, Board of Education, and State Education Department to ensure every child in the district has access to a high-quality public education."
A spokesperson for East Ramapo says the interim superintendent will be reviewing the report with the board of education.
The report is on the agenda for Tuesday night's school board meeting.
