Considering the Tax Cap

The spring of 2012—or year one of the tax cap—promises to be a challenging year for school administrators across New York State as they prepare budgets that will go to public votes this May.

The tax cap, which puts a lid on the tax levy—not the tax rate—will require districts to propose a budget that increases the levy by less than 2 percent or seek a 60 percent vote from the public to override it.

School administrators have been critical of the cap, saying state mandates and cuts in revenue from dropping property assessments and state aid will make staying beneath the cap difficult.

Their fear is that down the road, the cuts necessary to stay beneath the cap will have an affect on student programming and education as a whole.

It's not something many districts are considering so far—and hasn't been mentioned as an option in Harrison this year—but this week's Patch Poll asks Harrison readers if they would ever consider voting for a budget that overrides the tax levy cap.

Let us know what you think in the poll below.