Opponents of Governor Cuomo’s 2 percent property tax cap were able to stick one major exclusion into the legislation before it passed in 2011: a provision excluding a portion of local government and school employee pensions from the total allowable “levy limit” in years when taxpayer-funded employer contributions rise by more than two percentage points of salaries.
That loophole will push the average “levy limit” in this year’s upcoming school votes to 4.6 percent statewide, more than double the base cap and the inflation rate, according to a report issued by the Empire Center today. And, ironically, the pension exclusion will make it easiest for the poorest districts to avoid a “supermajority” requirement for passing their budgets.
If not for the pension exclusion, the levy school tax limit statewide this year would average 2.7 percent, including allowances for factors such as physical additions to the tax base (new construction, not assessment manipulations) and partial “carry-forwards” of unused cap space from last year.
You may also like
New York’s K-12 Problem
New York has an education problem that no one really likes to talk about: it spends more than any other state or country in the world yet achieves mediocre results at best. This might come as a surprise, especially since some politicians and pundits tout 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
NY Taxpayers Face Bitter Truth from Sweeter Pensions
Governor Hochul and state lawmakers this year approved a costly giveaway for public employee unions that retroactively hiked pension benefits. Now the bill is arriving. Read More
Do NY families have school choice?
Organizations across New York and the country last week observed to raise awareness of the educational pathways that exist outside of residentially-assigned public school systems. But what does Read More
Another Reason to Lift the Charter Cap
A staff shortage in upstate hospitals prompted , where hospital officials and state lawmakers asked that more funding to train medical professionals be included in January’s state bu Read More
Nation’s Report Card Paints Bleak Picture for New York
Results are in for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation’s report card. They paint a bleak picture for New York. 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
NY State Public School Enrollment Falls Five Percent Since Covid
New York’s public schools lost almost 60,000 students — 2.38 percent of their total student population —in the past year alone Read More