Voters in New York State will get a chance to vote on their local school budgets on Tuesday. The vast majority are keeping their spending requests within the mandatory tax cap,
The property tax cap is now in its sixth year, and according to the New York State School Boards’ David Albert, most of the state’s nearly 700 school districts are asking for increases that are within the limits of the cap.
Albert said, “Only 13 school districts this year are attempting to exceed their cap." Pittsford is one of the districts seeking a tax cap override, in part to help pay for the move to full-day kindergarten.
The cap limits districts to a tax increase of 2 percent a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
This year, the rate of inflation is calculated to be 1.26 percent. Because schools are allowed to go above that number for certain capital expenses, the average increase requested for school budgets this year is about 1.5 percent, according to the School Boards Association.
Voting times may vary, so check with your local school district. A number of districts are voting from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
