Unless the issue of capping school property taxes is handled correctly, some educational programs could be in jeopardy, several area superintendents said.
Gov. David Paterson announced Tuesday that he will introduce legislation to enact a school property tax cap, which is the principal recommendation of the preliminary report of the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief.
The group, chaired by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, offered a number of recommendations on the issue in its 112-page report. Besides the 4 percent cap on yearly property tax increases with an option for voter override, there are proposals for mandate relief and a "circuit breaker" to target relief to taxpayers based on income and ability to pay.
The average school tax increase in this area was below the cap the last two years, thanks to record state aid. But that was not the case in years such as 2005, when the average hike was 6.3 percent.
While the legislature is being pressured into imposing a property tax cap by various groups, Morris Central School Superintendent Michael Virgil said, "to look at it in isolation is irresponsible."
Instead, "legislators need to look into what goes into operating schools before they can put that (the tax cap) into place," he said.
At Morris, a mandated expense such as special education went up $200,000 last year, he said. That would require an 8 percent increase in the tax levy if it couldn't be offset by additional state aid.
"It is political rhetoric that sounds good," he said. Unless the legislature combines the cap with some other options including increased aid, or mandate relief, "you would have to slash programs," said Virgil.
Unadilla Valley school Superintendent Robert Mackey said he didn't ``oppose the idea of controlling property taxes," but added that he didn't ``want to jump without a plan of how we are going to maintain a high level of education."
Unless the cap is coupled with genuine reform in state aid to education, it will create "a situation where real learning won't happen," he said.
With increased state aid during the last two years, "the state has done a nice job in closing the gap on funding mandates." But this is only fair, he said, because meeting the higher state standards increases the costs of education.
The New York State School Boards Association said that rather than directly imposing a cap, legislators should begin by tackling some of the "tough mandate relief" identified in the report.
The report recognizes that local districts have little ability to unilaterally restrain costs, according to a NYSSBA press release.
Two area legislators said they have heard the concerns of area schools.
State Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, said "a cap alone is not the panacea." If enacted by itself it will aggravate inequities between different regions, he said.
For instance, a one-percent property tax raise could generate about $20,000 in many districts in this area, Seward said. While in some downstate districts, a similar raise could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The cap would exclude, New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers.
The cap should be "part of a package that can meet the needs of this area," Seward said, which includes some of the other report's suggestions. Overall, he said the commission did a good job on the issues.
He said he was hopeful that something could be done about high property taxes in the current session.
"People are at a breaking point," he said. "They need relief."
Assemblyman Clifford Crouch, R-Guilford, said he wasn't sure that enough time was left in the session to enact the legislation, but "eventually it will be passed,'' he said.
It's important that legislation include all three components identified by the commission.
Charlotte Valley Central School Superintendent Mark Dupra agreed that without some additional funding or mandate relief , programs would have to be cut.
But this is an issue, he said, where "the devil is in the details."
