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History
- Print number 7178a
- Amend and recommit to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to limitations upon school district tax levies
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Donna Lupardo
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to limitations upon school district tax levies
Purpose
This bill would ensure that no school district has a negative tax cap.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill would amend subdivision 3 of section 2023-a of the education law to state that the tax levy limit for school districts cannot be less than zero.
Section 2 of the bill establishes the effective date.
Justification
Through the first four years of the property tax cap, a number of school districts have faced a negative tax cap. Due to the complex nature of the formula and the number of factors used, school districts can be capped at tax levies that are actually less than the levies in the prior year. This means that a school district would have to cut its tax levy and any programs and services those funds support, or hope for a supermajority (60 percent) approval of its budget in order to simply keep the tax levy flat.
The prospect of a negative tax cap also acts as a disincentive to many school districts when it comes to finding budgetary efficiencies. For example, if a district pre-pays debt related to construction of school buildings, those savings would have a harmful effect on the district's tax cap, potentially resulting in a year to year mandated reduction in the property tax levy (negative tax cap).
The current process is also confusing to voters. The tax cap has been advertised as a limit on the annual growth in property taxes, with a supermajority needed to increase property taxes beyond that level. School districts often struggle to explain to voters exactly why that same supermajority might be needed to keep taxes flat or even decrease taxes by an amount less than what a negative tax cap would allow.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None to the state
Effective date
Immediate, with qualification.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.