The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators is holding a public hearing today on a proposal to override the state’s new property tax cap as part of the county’s budget. Although the tentative 2012 county budget is not due until Nov. 15, local news reports suggest county officials are getting an early start on the cap-busting process because they are convinced they will need a tax increase well above the levy limit.
For all localities outside New York City, the property tax levy cap is 2 percent, plus allowances for the value of physical additions to the property tax base in the past year and a partial exclusion for taxes necessary to pay rising pension costs. The cap can be overridden pursuant to a separate local law requiring support from at least 60 percent of the county legislators.
Our handy “BenchmarkingNY” tool at www.SeeThroughNY.net shows that St. Lawrence County, which sprawls across part of the northernmost corner of New York, already is among the highest-taxed counties in the state. According to its latest financial disclosure documents, the county tax levy has risen 22 percent in the past two years, after a long period of stability. Moreover, the county is borrowing money to keep up with its bills this year.
You may also like
Four Problems with a Statewide Pied-à-Terre Tax
Soon after Governor Hochul floated the idea of a "pied-à-terre" tax in New York City, Albany Sen. Patricia Fahy proposed to expand the concept to the rest of the state.
As with H Read More
Two Dozen School Districts Are Returning to the Polls for Budget Revotes
Voters in 24 New York school districts return to the polls on Tuesday for school budget revotes. Last month, voters in 96 percent of school districts outside New York City conducting votes approved their school budgets for the upcoming year.
The 683 sc Read More
Don’t Mess with the Tax Cap
The property tax cap has an extraordinary record of restraining tax hikes without unduly straining education budgets. Read More
Report Reveals Albany’s Balanced Budget a Gimmick
Extending the budget window reveals large, yawning budget gaps growing from nearly $8 billion in 2026 to nearly $20 billion by the end of the decade. Read More
Voters Approve Nearly All School Budgets Within Tax Cap
School budget votes proposing an average increase in per pupil spending of 4.2 percent were overwhelmingly approved in state-wide voting held yesterday. Read More
School budgets sail under cap
Yesterday’s school budget votes proved once again New York’s school districts aren’t having much difficulty staying under—or overriding—the property tax cap. Read More
One-house megabucks
With the clock ticking toward the April 1 start of the next state fiscal year, Assembly Democrats just laid out their budget preferences—and, as usual, they add up to a massive tax-and-spend fantasy. Read More
Tax cap fibs test limits
Government unions aren’t letting the facts get in the way of their opposition to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s push for a permanent property tax cap.
Testifying in Albany this month on Cuomo’s FY20 Executive Budget, union leaders made a number of misrepresentations regarding the cap, which since 2011 has slowed the growth of property taxes outside New York City. Read More