NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8874

Senate Bill S8874

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to the amount of the allowable levy growth factor and the percentage of votes needed to override the tax levy limit

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 22, 2024	referred to local government

2023-S8874 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: General Municipal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §3-c, Gen Muni L; amd §2023-a, Ed L

2023-S8874 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the amount of the allowable levy growth factor and the percentage of votes needed to override the tax levy limit.

2023-S8874 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8874

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general municipal law and the education law, in
relation to limits on school district and local government tax levies

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This legislation changes the calculation of the allowable tax levy limit
and changes the percentage of the total vote by which the governing body
or votes cast shall be approved.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sections 1 and 2 of the bill amend the general municipal law and the
education law to make the allowable levy growth factor two percent or
the rate of inflation, whichever is greater.

Section 3 amends the general municipal law to allow fifty percent, rath-
er than sixty percent, of the total governing body to override any

limit.

Sections 4 and 5 amend the education law to allow fifty percent, rather
than sixty percent, of the votes cast, to override any limit.

Section 6 provides for the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The tax cap was first enacted in 2011 and made permanent in 2019. It
stipulated that a municipality or school district could only raise its
tax levy by two percent or the rate of inflation (CPI), which ever was
less. It also established that if a municipality or school district
wanted to override or pierce the cap, an undemocratic threshold of sixty
percent of the votes cast was required. Many school districts found this
burdensome, and communities lost the ability to self-determine their own
tax levies and accordingly, the services and programs their schools and
communities could provide.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

Unknown.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S8874 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8874
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 22, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law  and  the  education  law,  in
   relation to limits on school district and local government tax levies
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 3-c of the gener-
 al municipal law, as added by section 1 of part A of chapter 97  of  the
 laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   (a)  "Allowable  levy growth factor" shall be the [lesser] GREATER of:
 (i) one and two  one-hundredths;  or  (ii)  the  sum  of  one  plus  the
 inflation  factor[;  provided,  however,  that in no case shall the levy
 growth factor be less than one].
   § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 2023-a of  the  education
 law,  as added by section 2 of part A of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011,
 is amended to read as follows:
   a. "Allowable levy growth factor" shall be the  [lesser]  GREATER  of:
 (i)  one  and  two  one-hundredths;  or  (ii)  the  sum  of one plus the
 inflation factor[; provided, however, that in no  case  shall  the  levy
 growth factor be less than one].
   §  3.  Subdivision  5  of section 3-c of the general municipal law, as
 added by section 1 of part A of chapter 97  of  the  laws  of  2011,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   5. A local government may adopt a budget that requires a tax levy that
 is  greater  than  the  tax  levy  limit for the coming fiscal year, not
 including any levy necessary to support  the  expenditures  pursuant  to
 subparagraphs (i) through (iv) of paragraph g of subdivision two of this
 section,  only  if  the  governing  body  of such local government first
 enacts, by a vote of [sixty] MORE THAN FIFTY percent of the total voting
 power of such body, a local law to override such limit for  such  coming
 fiscal  year  only,  or  in  the  case of a district or fire district, a
 resolution, approved by a vote of sixty  percent  of  the  total  voting
 power  of  such body, to override such limit for such coming fiscal year
 only.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14912-01-4
 S. 8874                             2
 
   § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 2023-a of the education law, as added by
 section 2 of part A of chapter 97 of the laws of  2011,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   6.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, in
 the event the trustee, trustees  or  board  of  education  of  a  school
 district  that  is  subject to the provisions of this section proposes a
 budget that will require a tax levy that exceeds the tax levy limit  for
 the  corresponding  school  year,  not  including  any levy necessary to
 support the expenditures pursuant to subparagraphs (i) through  (iv)  of
 paragraph  i  of subdivision two of this section, then such budget shall
 be approved if [sixty] MORE THAN FIFTY percent of the votes cast thereon
 are in the affirmative.
   (b) Where the trustee, trustees or board of education proposes a budg-
 et subject to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the
 ballot for such budget shall include the following statement in substan-
 tially the same form: "Adoption of  this  budget  requires  a  tax  levy
 increase of          which exceeds the statutory tax levy increase limit
 of          for  this school fiscal year and therefore exceeds the state
 tax cap and must be approved by [sixty] MORE THAN FIFTY percent  of  the
 qualified voters present and voting."
   § 5. Subdivision 9 of section 2023-a of the education law, as added by
 section  2  of  part  A of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
 read as follows:
   9. Nothing in this section shall preclude the  trustee,  trustees,  or
 board  of  education  of  a  school  district, in their discretion, from
 submitting additional items of expenditures to the voters  for  approval
 as  separate  propositions  or  the  voters from submitting propositions
 pursuant to sections two thousand eight and two thousand thirty-five  of
 this part; provided however, except in the case of a proposition submit-
 ted  for any expenditure contained within subparagraphs (i) through (iv)
 of paragraph i of subdivision two of this section, if  any  proposition,
 or  propositions  collectively  that  are  subject to a vote on the same
 date, would require an expenditure of money that  would  require  a  tax
 levy  and  would  result  in  the  tax levy limit being exceeded for the
 corresponding school year then such proposition  shall  be  approved  if
 [sixty]  MORE  THAN  FIFTY  percent of the votes cast thereon are in the
 affirmative.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.

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