Senator Morahan Secures $ 2.5 Million In Extra State Aid For North Rockland School District

State Senator Thomas P. Morahan and Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski announced that they have secured $ 2.5 million dollars in additional state aid for the North Rockland School District, and have stipulated that the extra funding be passed on to the taxpayers for relief. 

As a result of the special aid package created by Senator Morahan and Assemblyman Zebrowski, residential taxes will drop 3.3 percent and commercial taxes will fall more than 9 percent from this year's amount.

Schools Superintendent Brian Monahan said noted that special funding was specifically allocated to offset the impact of a tax lawsuit by Mirant."We are very grateful" for the state funds," said North Rockland School District Superintendent Monahan.

"I think every North Rockland resident should be grateful that we're actually going to see a decrease in our taxes," said Sue Saunders, president of the district's PTA Council.
Senator Morahan has insisted that the school district carefully manage future expenditures.

"Part of what I agreed with Senator Morahan was that we would tighten our belt and he would try to help. Our budget staying flat ... was one of the things he insisted on - and we did that," Superintendent Monahan said.

"These funds are part of state legislation specifically earmarked to help districts hard hit by tax lawsuits. Several other districts received some of the tax-stabilization funds, but North Rockland got the largest amount because it had the greatest need. This is a one-shot increase, but it's not our intention to leave it that way, " said Senator Morahan. "We will continue to fight for the taxpayers because of the tremendous debt that the school district is facing as the result of the certiorari by Mirant."

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