Councilman Friedman Releases Ramapo LDC Audit & Annual Report To The Public

PRESS RELEASE FROM COUNCILMAN DANIEL FRIEDMAN

This week, Ramapo Town Councilman Daniel Friedman released the 2013 financial audit of the Ramapo Local Development Corporation. Friedman also released the Annual Report of the LDC as well as a “Failure to File” notice that the LDC was given for the second year in a row.

“The public has a right to know what is in these documents, and our residents need to know the financial state of the Ramapo LDC,” said Councilman Friedman. “These key financial documents were held by Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence and the LDC for over three months, and were never even provided to the Ramapo Town Board, which has oversight of the LDC.”

Councilman Friedman found these documents just days ago by doing research on the EMMA (Electronic Municipal Market Access) website, which posts all bond-related filings. Governmental bodies with outstanding bonds are required to provide financial statements and updates. Though they pertain to taxpayer dollars, they were never released to the public. Incidentally, for the second year in a row, the LDC was given a notice that they failed to file these documents in a timely manner.

“Mounting deficits and the continued decline in the value of LDC assets are deeply troubling,” Councilman Friedman stated. “The content of this report, along with the recent subpoenas by the SEC and the continued lack of transparency of the Ramapo LDC, spells doom for taxpayers. This highlights the need for emergency reform of the Ramapo LDC, including greater oversight, which I first proposed over two years ago.”

“I urge everyone to read these documents and review the financial position of the Ramapo LDC, as it is your right to do so,” Friedman concluded. “I pledge to our taxpayers that as long as I am in office I will fight efforts to hide the true financial condition of our town and its entities, and I will make every financial document available to the public whose money funds our government.”

You must be logged in to post a comment Login