tax-cap-150x150-3928769In 2011, New York enacted a 2 percent cap on annual local property tax levies. A recent analysis by the Empire Center revealed that school property taxes have grown at an average annual rate of 2.2 percent per year in the four years since the cap was created, down from 6 percent per year in the thirty years prior. The authors also found that, when new construction was removed, school tax levies grew slower than inflation in every region of the state outside New York City, which was not affected by the cap.

Here are some recent publications from the Empire Center related to the tax cap and efforts by tax cap advocates to make it permanent:

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School Districts Plan To Spend Over $35K Per Student, Outpacing Inflation

School districts presenting budgets to voters on Tuesday, May 20, plan to spend an average of $35,012 per student, up 4.6 percent from the current school year, according to new state data. Data collected by the state Education Departme Read More

Median Teacher Pay Exceeds $100K in a Quarter of NY School Districts as Federal Funding Cuts Loom

A total of 186 out of 685 school districts outside New York City last year had a median classroom teacher pay over $100,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website, up from 159 five years earlier. All eight Rockland Coun Read More

New York Property Tax Calculator 2021

New York’s property tax rates are generally among the highest in the nation. Specific property tax burdens vary widely throughout the state. Read More

Benchmarking New York 2021

To help New Yorkers compare certain basic fiscal measures for local governments, the Empire Center has calculated effective property tax rates and per-capita values for the spending, debt and tax levels throughout the state. Read More

Kathy Hochul’s call for 5.4M Republicans to leave New York is dangerous and disgusting

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who hasn’t proven shy about issuing orders, had one for the state’s Republicans this week 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

Benchmarking New York

New York State residents pay some of the highest local taxes in the nation. Read More

Altered State: A checklist for change in New York State

This paper describes seven core objectives and offers specific policy recommendations toward their accomplishment. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, rather a good place to start work towards an Altered State with a growing economy, a more efficient public sector and new opportunities for an engaged and informed citizenry. Read More