After a report from the State Department of Education’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance leaked last week, who is to blame for the $11.8 million debt in Bayonne?Â
The six-page OFAC report, which is dated October 29, says that although the City of Bayonne says that the board of education owes them $11.8 million for payments made to the School Development Authority.
However, based on the numbers provided in the report, only $8.7 million is accounted for – partially because the city and BOE “conducted numerous transactions based upon verbal agreements.”
In a statement, Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis said, in part:
“This confirms what we have been saying all along. For the past several years there was no paper trail kept between the City and Board of Education.”
“This lack of documentation and failure to follow best-practices has caused doubt and concern within our community as to how taxpayers’ money was spent by the City and Board of Education.”