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NY school budget votes today

Half of districts spending right to the tax cap
(Photo: Thinkstock)

ALBANY - Hundreds of school districts across New York are hoping to spend every penny they can — literally — without breaking the state's property-tax cap.

Voters outside of New York's largest cities will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to approve or reject their school district's proposed budget for the 2018-19 academic year.

Spending plans for 669 districts across the state will be up for a vote and have to comply with the rules for the state's cap on property taxes for the eighth consecutive year.

Of those, 319 districts — about 48 percent — have proposed raising taxes by every dollar they can without breaking the tax cap, data from the state Education Department shows.

DATABASE: See how your school district's taxes, enrollment stack up

"The tax cap has succeeded in slowing the growth of taxes, but there’s more to be done to set New York on the right track," said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative Albany-based think tank that first analyzed the spending to the cap.

Enrollment steady

Statewide, school taxes are proposed to increase by about $515 million for the 2018-19 year, an increase of about 2.4 percent from 2017-18, according to the state data.

Enrollment in the 669 districts, meanwhile, essentially held steady; It's expected to be about 1.5 million in the coming year, down about 6,000 students from the current year.

Those numbers don't include the five largest school districts in the state, including New York City, Yonkers and Rochester, whose budgets are intertwined with their city.

LAST YEAR: Schools limit tax increases to 1.7%

New York's property-tax cap, approved in 2011 by the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, limits how much districts can annually increase their total tax levy to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

Then there are certain exemptions that can push that number higher, such as increases in pension costs beyond 2 percent.

So for the 2018-19 school year, the average cap for school districts is actually about 2.9 percent after the exemptions are taken into account.

Most comply

About 98 percent of districts proposed budgets that comply with the tax cap, including those 319 spending right to the limit.

Michael Borges, executive director of the state Association of School Business officials, said the budget data highlights the economic challenges school districts continue to face.

"Although school districts have a higher cap this year than last, higher health and pension costs, coupled with economic instability due to federal policy changes, create an uncertain fiscal picture for school districts," Borges said in a statement. "Stable, adequate and equitable state funding is more important than ever."

The remaining 13 districts — about 2 percent — are taking a more risky approach: Proposing budgets that exceed the tax cap.

By law, those budgets will have to be approved by 60 percent of voters who cast a ballot Tuesday.

If they're rejected, the schools will have to put a new budget to a vote — and it can't exceed the amount of tax levied for the current school year.

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