“Acting Supervisor Yitzchok Ullman made the request Friday in a press release, justifying his pitch that the stadium has become a top tourist draw in Rockland and generates an estimated $250,000 in sales tax annually through sales of tickets, concessions and other items.
Plus, Ramapo needs the money after financial problems and corruption convictions.
Ramapo acting supervisor Yitzchok Ullman seeks a share of estimated $250,000 in sales tax revenues generated by Palisades Credit Union Park. Rockland County Executive Ed Day says he’s not supportive.
Acting Supervisor Yitzchok Ullman made the request Friday in a press release, justifying his pitch that the stadium has become a top tourist draw in Rockland and generates an estimated $250,000 in sales tax annually through sales of tickets, concessions and other items.
Plus, Ramapo needs the money after financial problems and corruption convictions.
But County Executive Ed Day said he doesn’t intend to play ball with the town at this point, responding by saying Ullman should have done his homework on the issue before going public.
Day said Ramapo, like other towns and villages, gets sales tax money through a formula based upon community population and the size of its police department. He said Ramapo makes out well with the county’s largest population and the second largest police department.
Day said the county also is working down its financial deficit and Ullman’s request for “segmenting sales tax revenue in this fashion is not even a legitimate, viable option, something I would think he would research before he spoke.”
“The fact is that despite an inherited, multimillion dollar deficit, we continued an expanded form of sales tax revenue sharing, one that I just signed off on to continue,” Day said.
Ramapo faces financial problems, caused primarily by the financing the construction of what’s now the Palisades Credit Union Bank Park located off Pomona Road. The town is paying off $25 million in bonds on the stadium, which cost upward of $60 million to build.
Ullman got the Town Board appointment to take the reins of government following Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence’s conviction on federal security fraud charges in May related to financing the ball park.
Ullman said Friday that the town is conducting a “cost/benefit analysis of the stadium operations” to ensure that park is sustainable to Ramapo taxpayers. He’s said all departments are being reviewed as the town has hired acountants to audit the town finances.
The stadium, he said, has become one of Rockland’s most popular tourist destinations, estimating 35 percent of the Boulders’ tickets are sold to fans who live outside the county.
“It needs to be a great place for the town that it calls home as well, which is why I am calling on the county to share sales tax revenue from the ballpark with the town of Ramapo,” Ullman said. “Some portion of those funds should support our town since the ballpark relies on service provided by our taxpayers.
“Ensuring a share of the stadium sales tax revenue comes to Ramapo will greatly assist us in achieving this goal,” Ullman said.”
Read the complete Journal News story here.