Cynthia Nixon, the Working Families Party candidate for governor of New York, recently spoke out against the state’s 2 percent cap on annual spending. She also came out against the state’s 2 percent cap on increases in local property taxes. READ
Tag: Tax Cap
A major oversight in New York State’s property tax cap law is that it makes no exception for school districts that experience increased enrollment. READ
Local school districts are preparing for another tight budget season this year, with minimal state aid increases projected in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tentative spending plan and a cap of less than 2 percent on tax levy growth.
When New York State first approved its state property tax levy cap in 2011, this newspaper called it the biggest unfunded mandate of all. Two years later, we editorialized that the tax cap should never have been labeled “2 percent” if exceptions allow municipalities to increase budgets by more than that amount without technically piercing the cap.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter unveiled a tentative 2017 spending plan Thursday that includes a 4.12 percent increase to next year’s tax levy.
Shoreham-Wading River Superintendent Steven Cohen has pitched a nearly $72 million school budget for the 2016-17 school year, representing a 4.75 percent increase in the tax levy. READ
Local superintendents preparing next year’s school spending plans are describing the process as daunting because they’re bound to nearly zero percent tax levy growth for 2016-17.
The Riverhead Town Board voted 4-1 to adopt its 2016 town budget and to pierce the state’s two-percent tax levy cap at its meeting Tuesday night. READ
