By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- Property tax levy growth for school districts will be capped at .12 percent above current levels for the 2016-17 fiscal year, which will likely make for a tough budget season for St. Lawrence County school districts.

Ogdensburg School Superintendent Timothy Vernsey said he expects schools locally and across the state will have a difficult time staying under the state imposed tax cap.

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 certain exceptions, including a provision that allows school districts to override the cap with 60 percent voter approval of their budget

But Vernsey says the state was short sighted in establishing the cap.

“This is the problem with tying the tax cap to the consumer price index. This will mean that poor districts in the North Country will have even less revenue generating capabilities and since we are so dependent on state aid will mean that more fund balance or cuts to programs will have to occur to make up the difference,” he said. “When the state instituted the tax cap they touted Massachusetts model but did not follow it. They allow districts to increase taxes 2.5 percent without voter approval anything over this requires approval.”

In the New York model school districts can override the tax cap, but doing so requires a 60 percent majority vote of the school board and often draws ire from the public.

According to data released State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, the latest calculation affects the tax cap calculations for 677 school districts.

“The nearly zero growth in the tax cap will limit budget options for school and municipal officials as they plan for next year,” DiNapoli said. “Although some local governments can rely on available reserve funds to bridge the gap, others may need to take a hard look at operations to find ways to cut costs to stay under the cap.”

The problem for St. Lawrence County schools is that they have been attempting to cut costs for years. With several schools considering consolidations, changes to health care plans and shared services. However many consolidation studies have shown that the geography of massive county complicates these kind of savings for North Country districts.

For 2016-17, DiNapoli estimates the state’s school districts (excluding New York City and the Big Four city school districts) will have about $308 million less in levy growth compared to what they had in 2015-16 when the allowable growth factor was 1.62 percent.

For the list of allowable tax levy growth factors for all local governments, visit:

http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/realprop/pdf/inflation_allowablegrowthfactors.pdf

For access to state and local government spending, public authority financial data and information on 50,000 state contracts, visit Open Book New York.