Skelos: School votes show tax cap working
Amityville residents cast their vote on school budgets at North East Elementary School. (May 15, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa
ALBANY -- The State Legislature's top Republican said Wednesday the so-so success rate for school districts across New York that tried to override the new property-tax cap this week was revealing.
Nearly every district that kept tax increases below New York's new 2 percent threshold saw its budget approved by voters. But in districts that proposed overrides, only 60 percent succeeded. That shows the tax cap is working, said Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a tax-cap advocate.
"For those who came in under the cap, people respected their decision," said Skelos (R-Rockville Centre). "For those who decided to exceed the cap, it's a mixed bag. Some schools approved it and some didn't. That's the way it's supposed to work. But in the long run, it's going to force fiscal discipline."
This week's vote was the first under a property-tax cap enacted last year. It limits tax levy increases to the lesser of 2 percent or the rate of inflation, with exceptions for some pension costs. School budgets may exceed the cap only if approved by a supermajority of 60 percent of the voters rather than a simple majority.
Assemb. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) said the failure of voters in East Islip to override the cap showed that it was working.
"The lesson is that school boards have to stay within the cap," Boyle said. "The voters expect budgets to come in under the cap now and they're going to vote accordingly."
In contrast, Assemb. Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) said two school systems in his district, Sachem and Middle Country, achieved overrides because officials "gave voters legitimate reasons" for doing so.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called the cap a success.
"More than anything, we changed the culture, we changed the dialogue," the Democrat said after an event in Syracuse. "And we changed it from automatic tax increase to 'Maybe we have to find economies of scale and reduce spending."
About 99 percent of districts tapped reserves and a majority cut jobs, programs and services, according to Timothy Kremer, executive director of the School Boards Association.
"Voters recognized that school leaders did everything they could to comply with the spirit and intent of the property tax levy cap," he said. "But keeping within the tax cap required sacrifices."
With John Hildebrand
