RAMAPO - The town wants to score a share of the county sales tax revenue generated by the baseball stadium where the Rockland Boulders play.

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.

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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.

The Rockland Boulders, sitting 1.5 games out of first place, are second-highest draw this season with a total attendance of 129,054, according to the six-team independent Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball.

The Boulders have averaged 2,689 people per game this season, according to league attendance figures. The team averaged 2,934 people in 2016 and 3,053 in 2015. The first-place Quebec Capitales lead at 130,716 customers and 2,781 people per game.

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The idea of sharing sales tax revenues has been broached before. Clarkstown led the fight for years, seeking money generated by the Palisades Center in West Nyack and other shopping hubs in the town. As a compromise, the county paid the costs of town and village police officers assigned to countywide law enforcement units, like the Drug Task Force.

Sales tax revenues are a major portion of the county budget, cutting down on county property taxes. In 2016, the county received $198 million, Day said, after budgeting $188.6 million. For 2017, the county budget estimates getting $193.6 million.

"We've been conservative with our budget estimates," Day said. "For years, the county over-estimated for sales tax revenues."

But Day said Friday that Ullman should have called him instead of sending out a press release.

"I have already assured the other town supervisors that once our deficit is eliminated we can revisit the matter for improved sharing in its entirety," Day said.

Day said if the Rockland Legislature approved the sale of the Sain Building in New City, the county could reduce the remaining deficit by 40 percent.

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Day blames Ramapo's legislative delegation for blocking the sale, leading to a war of words for months between the two factions. He also opined that Ramapo's financial straits are the fault of St. Lawrence and Town Board members like Ullman who supported or didn't question St. Lawrence's policies.

"I would suggest he (Ullman) expend his energies advocating with his legislators and he do what we did in county government over the past three years — reduce spending, find internal efficiency and compress the size of town government."

Ullman responded to Day's comments by contending the county executive is "more focused on political attacks than reasonable solutions to challenges facing the largest town in the county." Ullman said he repeatedly voted against the ballpark deal and Day served on the Legislature when the county deficit mounted.

He said the ballpark is different than any other commercial properties, saying "while the owners of the Palisades mall pay property taxes, we receive no such revenue from the ballpark."

Ullman said Day's "tired political attacks on Ramapo and its elected leaders can’t change the fact that Ramapo should get a share of the sales tax revenue generated by the ballpark we helped build.”

Twitter: @lohudlegal