NY property taxes to grow less than 1% under cap

The property tax cap limits governments to increases in the levy of 2 percent or the rate of inflation whichever is lower.

“Now, what the state has done, we’ve put in place a measure to insure that these municipalities are living within their means”. The DiNapoli report cautioned that localities with fiscal years that start later in 2016 could be faced with an even lower allowable levy growth if current inflation trends continue.

The tax cap, which first applied to local governments beginning in 2012, limits tax levy increases to the lesser of the rate of inflation or 2 percent with some exceptions, including a provision that allows municipalities to override the cap.

Municipalities will need to tighten their belts even further to stay under New York’s property-tax cap.

Next calendar year’s cap is 0.73 percent. The projected rate of inflation for the 2016 calendar year is.

Governments can override the cap with a 60 percent vote of their governing body, and about 20 percent have done so each year. “DiNapoli might just as well have warned them to “brace for lower property taxes” – which, in a state saddled with some of the highest tax burdens in the nation, can only be good news for millions of homeowners and businesses”.

The state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month extended the property-tax cap until 2020 with some new exemptions for schools and tax payments. “They may have less flexibility moving forward”, he said. The also urged exempting infrastructure projects, noting school districts and the state also have that. It isn’t “in Brighton, property taxes make up 58 percent of revenue and though property taxes can’t go up more than”.

The comptroller said in the future, it’s possible property taxes could be held to zero percent.

“It should be a pain in the neck”, Cuomo said during a stop in Nyack, Rockland County. Joseph Spector is chief of Gannett’s Albany Bureau.