Breaking News: NYS Education Commissioner Rosa Imposes 4.38% Tax Levy on ERCSD

by M.C. Millman

New York State Education Department Commissioner Betty Rosa has imposed an additional 4.38% tax levy on top of the 1% budget increase passed by the voters. This goes completely against the will of the East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD) voters.

The 4.38% tax levy being forced on ERCSD is a direct result of an appeal from a parent through the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)  declaring that the district is not providing enough for the public school children, resulting in the stay that will impose a 4.38% tax levy which was the original budget that voters voted down. 

Rockland Daily reached out to Harry Grossman, former ERCSD board president, for clarification on what this means for taxpayers in the district. 

"The school board will have to approve the commissioner's new tax levy," Grossman explains. "They will almost certainly vote it down. Then, the monitor will override the school board. After that, the voters are going to have to start a lawsuit against the state challenging the tax levy. The reason why the voters need to bring the lawsuit, instead of the school board  is because they are the ones being disenfranchised."