Senator John Flanagan (2nd Senate District) today spoke out for the taxpayers of Long Island by voting in a special Senate session to cap school property taxes.  The session, which was aimed at providing relief to homeowners throughout the state, also included passage of mandate relief and cost savings bill designed to reduce costs for schools and ensure adequate resources for New York State’s students. 

            “Everywhere I go and every event I attend, I am constantly reminded that the number one issue facing Long Islanders is the property tax burden.  Today’s actions will have a real effect on the quality of life of all our residents and that will help our entire state,” stated Senator Flanagan.  “Equally as important, both measures will preserve the quality of education while delivering needed relief and that is a win-win for everyone.”

            The tax cap proposal, which was introduced at the request of Governor David Paterson, will cap school property tax  growth at four percent or 120 percent of Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less.

            To protect the principle of local control, the Senate’s tax cap proposal allows voters to approve a tax levy that exceeds the cap if 55 percent of voters approve it.  If a school district received an increase in State aid of over five percent, 60 percent of the voters must approve the override vote.

            Additionally, the residents could also place a stricter tax cap on their local school district. The underride proposal would be placed on the ballot by voters if they wish to adopt a tax increase less than the cap, or no tax increase at all.

            School districts that propose an increase that is less than the cap would be authorized to bank the excess taxing authority, up to 1.5 percent, for tax increases in future years.  The only item excluded from this formula are costs associated with school construction projects.

            To complement the tax cap measure, the savings proposal and mandate relief legislation that passed the Senate today would provide needed mandate and cost relief measures to help individual school districts reduce costs.

            Measures in this legislation include:

·         Relief from Increasing Pension Costs: To provide school districts relief from increasing pension costs, the state would take over increased costs above four percent.  Under this measure, this aid would be limited to 40 percent of this total funding.  This proposal is similar to the cap on local Medicaid costs that has saved counties hundreds of millions of dollars;

·         Energy Savings for School Districts: To help school districts face increasing energy costs without having to resort to passing these costs to their taxpayers, the Senate proposal calls for:

          ·         requiring each school building would be required to undergo an energy audit by NYSERDA/NYPA and schools that implement the recommended solutions would receive a 65 percent reimbursement for costs through building aid;

          ·         increasing the maximum cost allowance of building aid to provide an incentive to school districts for the construction of “green” school buildings and the use of alternative energy sources; and

          ·         providing more flexibility to school districts in providing transportation services to conserve energy and reduce costs. 

·         Incentives for Consolidated Services: The legislation that Senator Flanagan supported would allow school districts to contract with BOCES for services such as lawn mowing, heating and air conditioning, repair, and trash collection to help reduce operating expenses.  When implemented as a comprehensive package, this measure will provide savings to school districts and relief to taxpayers.

·         School Superintendent Sharing: Under current law, each school district in the state must appoint their own Superintendent.  The Senate package would allow small school districts, with an enrollment of less than 1,000 students, to share one superintendent across a maximum of three districts.

·         Relief from Unfunded Mandates: The Senate package also moves to reduce costs associated with programs initiated at the state level.  The mandates have long been pointed to as one of the main reasons school costs have risen and the cost saving package would:

          ·         implement a ban on unfunded mandates on localities or school districts which will cost over $1 million, except in emergency situations, or for federal compliance;

          ·         delay the effective date of any regulation that has fiscal implications that is adopted after school budgets are voted on until the school year for which the next school budget will be approved for;

          ·         eliminate numerous required reports that are no longer relevant to help schools reduce paperwork; and

          ·         establish a Blue Ribbon Commission on Mandates to determine costs associated with mandates, establish alternative solutions to costly mandates, identify mandates that could be consolidated; and determine the true savings of mandate relief proposals. The Commission would be composed of eleven members and would be required to report their findings to the Governor and the Legislature by March 31, 2009; and

·         Property Reassessments Moratorium: In order to deal with uncertainty in assessments and housing values, this legislation places a two-year moratorium on property reassessments. In addition, the bill would create an 11-member commission to recommend a statewide, uniform assessment code.

            These two important measures reconfirm the Senate’s previous commitment to education aid, providing $3.3 billion in foundation aid over the next three years in order to provide a sound basic education and meet CFE requirements.

            Both measures were approved during the special session and sent to the Assembly for further action.  Neither measure will have an impact on the current state budget and current levels of state aid to Long Island schools.

            “The tax cap, which is supported by a wide majority of New Yorkers, when combined with the cost cutting measures will help control the largest part of tax bills and that will provide needed tax relief without sacrificing educational quality.  That is what our children, our hardworking families and our seniors deserve and I urge the Assembly to come back to pass this much needed relief,” concluded Senator Flanagan.

            The Senate also passed a resolution calling on the federal government to provide additional funds for federal unfunded mandates, including the No Child Left Behind Act which requires school districts to meet costly testing and reporting requirements.

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