Property tax levy growth for school districts will be capped at 0.12 percent above current levels for the 2016-17 fiscal year, according to data released Jan. 20 by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The allowable levy growth factor for the 2016-17 school year budgets will be 1.0012 percent. The latest calculation affects the tax cap calculations for 677 school districts as well as 10 cities.
“The nearly zero growth in the tax cap will limit budget options for school and municipal officials as they plan for next year,” said DiNapoli. “Although some local governments can rely on available reserve funds to bridge the gap, others may need to take a hard look at operations to find ways to cut costs to stay under the cap.”
The tax cap, which first applied to local governments beginning in 2012, limits tax levy increases to the lesser of the rate of inflation, or 2 percent with certain exceptions, including a provision that allows school districts to override the cap with 60 percent voter approval of their budget.
For 2016-17, DiNapoli estimates the state’s school districts (excluding New York City and the Big Four city school districts of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers) will have about $308 million less in levy growth compared to what they had in 2015-16 when the allowable growth factor was 1.62 percent.
—Submitted by the NYS Comptroller’s Office
