An increase in the school tax rate has been proposed and approved by the Fredonia Central School District board, but must face voters to be passed.

The budget vote will be held on May 15. If the budget is defeated, a second vote will take place. If the budget is twice defeated by the voters of the district, the district must still comply with the New York Property Tax Levy Cap. Under the cap, the budget cannot exceed the administrative percentage of the prior year’s budget. The board has announced the district is currently $217,836 over this cap.

Superintendent Paul DiFonzo said, “Although I know that this is a difficult budget, it is a budget that does keep programs in place. I would ask everyone to consider this.”

“The only move we can make after this is going to impact students in some way, shape or form, in a very negative way. So, I’m hoping we can get this budget through,” he added.

In June 2011, the New York State Legislature passed the tax cap law to place new restrictions on how school districts may increase their tax levies. According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, beginning on or after Jan. 1, the law limits the annual growth of property taxes levied by local governments and school districts to 2 percent. School budgets can exceed the cap if approved by at least 60 percent of school district voters. However, for various reasons, the tax cap may be lower, and in some cases, higher than 2 percent. The new budget proposes an estimated 3.52 percent increase.

Over the last several drafts of the budget, the board was unable to reduce the shortfall in spending to less than $1.3 million. Based upon the budget proposal, the projected tax rate per $1,000 to make up the amount would be increased.

If the proposed rate increase is defeated twice, the rate may still increase by a smaller amount, which would vary by municipality:

Pomfret’s original rate of $2.77 would still increase by $(1.01) per $1,000….

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