District Contact Information

Daniel T. Connor
Superintendent

227 Main Street
Goshen, NY 10924
(845) 615-6720

Central School District

Budget News

Breaking down Cuomo's tax cap proposal

The Governor’s proposed tax cap: What does it mean?

February 16, 2011 - Late last month, the New York State Senate passed Governor Andrew Cuomo’s bill to impose a property tax cap proposal for schools and local governments, beginning in 2012-13, by a vote of 45-17. Although the State Legislature still needs to accept this bill in order for it to be enacted, many questions surround the Governor’s proposed tax cap.

What does the proposed tax cap mean?

“First things first, the tax cap is actually a tax levy cap,” said Robert Miller, Assistant Superintendent for Business. “If passed, the bill would place a two percent cap on the tax levy as a whole; not the individual taxpayer. Having a tax cap doesn’t mean that your individual school taxes will only increase by two percent, especially because equalization rates vary from town to town.”

According to the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS), the proposed tax cap bill would limit school tax levy increases to two percent OR the change in national Consumer Price Index over the calendar year, whichever is less. The two percent cap can be overruled if at least 60 percent of voters approve a greater increase.

Under the proposed tax cap, what happens if voters don’t approve their district’s budget proposal?

If voters reject their district’s budget proposal, the bill requires that a second proposal be submitted for a vote. However, it is important to note that if residents reject their district’s budget proposal a second time, its tax levy would be capped at the prior year’s amount — a cap of zero, not 2 percent.

The bottom line is that if a school budget proposal is twice voted down, the district must adopt the same tax levy amount as the prior school year. Over recent years, the costs of simply maintaining a district’s academic program from one year to the next have continually increased – while state aid has been continually reduced. If a district’s tax levy were to stay the same year after year, there would be inevitable cuts made into its academic program – and no room to improve upon existing programs.

During the budget approval process, it should also be noted that:

  • If a district proposes a levy increase below the cap, the increase will be approved if more than 50 percent of voters vote in favor.

  • If the district proposes an increase above the cap, then it is approved only if more than 60 percent of voters support it.

No matter what increase a district proposes, if it is not approved by district voters, the tax levy would be capped at the prior year’s level — the cap of zero percent.