A high-profile state commission on property taxes appears headed toward a consensus that would recommend capping school district property tax increases at a rate of growth between 3 and 4 percentage points and giving voters the power to override a ceiling, sources said.

The commission, which was set up by Governor Spitzer in January and is led by the county executive of Nassau County, Thomas Suozzi, is also expected to recommend that state lawmakers distribute tax relief to homeowners in the form of a “circuit breaker,” which would give grants to homeowners when their taxes consume a certain percentage of their income.

Such aid would be a break from the state’s much-criticized School Tax Relief program, which each year hands out billions of dollars in state aid in the form of property tax exemptions that are not affected by a homeowner’s wealth.

The seven-member commission is expected to release its final report by next Thursday, although Governor Paterson has the option of extending its deadline.

The report is certain to face fierce resistance from state lawmakers, who can choose to modify or ignore its recommendations.

New York State United Teachers and other powerful public-sector unions have been adamant about their opposition to a tax cap, which they fear would reduce spending and thus teacher salaries, and they would likely lean heavily on any lawmaker considering voting for it.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, suggested in a recent interview that he already has ruled out passing a cap, a position shared by many Democrats in his conference. Lawmakers, however, say they would support a “circuit breaker” approach.

Senate Republicans say they want to give school districts the option of imposing a cap. Mr. Paterson, whose father, Basil Paterson, is a commission member, has yet to take a public position.

Mr. Suozzi, a popular Democrat in his county who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006, and other advocates of a cap argue that the most efficient way to curb tax growth is to put restrictions on school district spending.

In proposing a property tax cap, commission members are looking to Massachusetts as their model, sources said.

While more than a dozen states have some sort of cap on the annual growth of property tax collections, the Massachusetts version is generally thought to be the most successful.

The Bay State’s Proposition Two-and-a-Half, approved 26 years ago, forbids localities from levying more than 2.5% of the total cash value of taxable real estate property in a given community.

The levy cannot increase by more than 2.5% of the prior year’s limit.

Communities can vote to override the limit and raise taxes by more than 2.5% to pay for specific expenses, but the total tax levy still cannot exceed 2.5% of the taxable property value.

In the first 10 years of the cap’s existence, Massachusetts went from having a tax burden that was 22% above the national average to one that was 1% below average.

Outside New York City, which raises revenue primarily by taxing income rather than property, property taxes have long been a top issue of concern for homeowners, who have seen tax levies in their school districts go up each year by an average of 7% since 2001.

The expansion of the STAR program, which now costs the state $5 billion a year, and a recent surge in state education aid, which has gone up by 20% in the last two years, have slowed down the rate of tax growth.

Still, taxes are going up above the rate of inflation. School districts have proposed budgets this year that increase per-pupil spending by an average of 5.8% and increase per-pupil tax levies by an average of 4.2%, according to an analysis prepared by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Annual consumer inflation stands at slightly under 4%.

“It is a good sign that people are being more careful about not raising our property taxes,” Mr. Suozzi told The New York Sun yesterday. “It also comes at the expense of record increases in state aid.”

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