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Gunther urges Gov. Hochul to forgive MCSD penalties

Matt Shortall
Posted 10/1/21

MONTICELLO — State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther called on New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday to sign off on legislation that would forgive the Monticello Central School District …

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Gunther urges Gov. Hochul to forgive MCSD penalties

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MONTICELLO — State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther called on New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday to sign off on legislation that would forgive the Monticello Central School District of $1.9 million in penalties.

“Governor Hochul has said it’s her goal to get our kids back in the classroom. If we’re penalizing a district nearly $2 million for an administrative error, that’s money that could be used to keep students safe and healthy,” Gunther said in a statement.

The $1.9 million relates to building aid penalties imposed on the district for the late filing of a capital cost report several years ago.

As previously reported in the Democrat, Former Governor Andrew Cuomo had twice vetoed similar legislation that would have forgiven the penalties the district says were caused by a clerical error after the state changed the way it collected information.

In 2019, Gov. Cuomo signed legislation forgiving a $1.1 million building aid penalty incurred by the Roscoe Central School District, but vetoed a similar bill that would have forgiven the Monticello Central School District.

A similar amnesty bill was again vetoed by Gov. Cuomo in 2020.

The Democrat reached out to Gov. Hochul’s office for comment, but did not receive a response as of presstime on Thursday.

“$1.9 million is a lot of money for a small community like ours. Our property tax base cannot and should not have to take on this additional burden,” Gunther said.

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