By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff
kwind@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/KyleatFreeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Board of Education could increase the school district’s property tax levy by 3.35 percent in 2012-13 without an override of the state’s new tax cap if it applies certain exemptions to the district’s spending plan, officials say.

The district raised $91,132,627 in property taxes to fund its 2011-12 budget. With exemptions applied, the 2012-13 limit would be $94,187,033, said district Treasurer Gary Tomczyk.

That includes $794,370 in exceptions allowed under the new state law, $737,454 of which comes from debt service for capital projects including energy performance contracts and the state Excel project.

The other exemption for which the district qualifies amounts to $56,916 because of a projected increase in  state Employee Retirement System costs. A projected 2012-13 increase in the district’s state Teachers Retirement System expenses — from 11.11 percent of the payroll to 11.84 percent — is not steep enough to qualify as an exception to the cap.

Without exemptions, the tax levy limit set by the state legislation would allow the district to collect $93,387,074 in property taxes, which would amount to a 2.47 percent increase in the levy.

The reason the cap exceeds the 2 percent level that normally is referenced  is the equation for setting the limits associated with the cap includes a district tax base “growth factor” that is determined by the state, Tomczyk said.

If the school board decides to use the exemptions and gains voter approval on the budget, Tomczyk said the additional $799,959 in revenue would reduce the district’s projected $12.5 million budget gap.

Tomczyk said revised state aid projections also appear to be good news for the district, cutting the deficit further.

State officials continue to iron out the logistics of how the cap works, said Tomczyk, adding that what is expected of school districts “changes every day.”

Districts are required to report their maximum allowable levy under the cap to the state Comptroller’s Office by March 1. A survey questioning whether the district plans to override the cap sparked a discussion among members of the Kingston board last week. Continued...

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Trustees said they are not inclined to try to override the cap but decided not to respond to the survey question. They argued that it is too early in the budget process to fully commit to seeking a 60 percent supermajority of voters agreeing to circumvent the cap, as required by state law.

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