Senate Passes Carlucci Bill to Allow School Districts to Collect Their Own Taxes & Save Taxpayers Millions

ALBANY, NY– Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) passed legislation through the State Senate that would allow school districts to collect their own taxes instead of having the overlying municipality collect them.  Carlucci's bill, if passed by the Assembly and signed into law, would save school districts millions of dollars by eliminating the costs associated with facilitating collection.  Under current law, taxpayers are charged up to a 1% tax fee based on their total school tax and up to 5% as a late fee. Tax monies are being collected that far exceed the operating costs associated with this function, thus taking funds away from the school district. 

"This is a very simple fix that would streamline school district functions, save taxpayers millions and allow the money to be used in the classroom where it will directly benefit our students," stated Senator Carlucci.  "We all know that the property tax, largely driven by school taxes, is the killer tax of the State and by allowing school districts to perform this function on their own, we will take steps towards reducing that burden."

The three districts that are charged the most of any school district in New York are East Ramapo, North Rockland and Ramapo Central.  These three districts each pay 1% of the tax levy to the local government, losing over $3 million combined between the districts.        

"By allowing school districts to collect school taxes, there will be greater transparency as these dollars are put towards education instead of being placed in a municipality's general fund, where it can be used for anything.  Nothing is more important than our children's education and we need to make sure they get every dollar they are entitled to," Carlucci concluded.  

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