Property Tax Cap

Town tax levies are subject to a Tax Cap. Details on the Property Tax Cap and related matters are available from New York State in Publication 1000: The Property Tax Cap. Excerpts of this publication are quoted below.

While other factors occasionally come into play, the Property Tax Cap is basically based on the product of the current year’s tax levy, the “quantity change factor”, and the “inflation factor”. Any “available carryover” from the current year is then added to the above product.

Quantity Change Factor

Quoting from Publication 1000:

Quantity Change

The Quantity Change Factor adjusts the tax levy limit to reflect an increase in the full value of taxable real property in a local government due to physical or quantity change — i.e. new growth or significant additions to existing properties.

The Commissioner of Taxation and Finance will issue a Quantity Change Factor for all local governments that have experienced an increase in the full value of taxable real property due to a physical or quantity change.

Increases in full value due to changes in assessment only do not constitute a basis for a quantity change factor. A physical or quantity change does not result from the splitting or merging of parcels.

Property returning to the tax rolls after the expiration of a PILOT does not constitute a basis for a Quantity Change Factor.

The Quantity Change Factor for the Town of Caroga for 2021 is 1.0004.

Inflation Factor

The inflation factor is a percentage that is the lesser of 2% and an inflation figure released by the New York State Comptroller in July. It is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for the period ending June 30 of the current year. For the 2021 budget, the inflation factor is 1.0156 (in other words, a 1.56% increase).

Available Carryover

If the current year’s tax levy did not exceed the tax cap for the current year, the difference is called the available carryover. For tax year 2020, the Town of Caroga available carryover is $12,334.

Tax Cap Calculation

The Town of Caroga 2020 tax levy was $926,073. Multiply that by the quantity change factor of 1.0004 and the inflation factor of 1.0156 and add the carryover of $12,334 yields a tax cap of $953,230 for year 2021.

Any budget that calls for a tax levy greater than the tax cap requires a local law authorizing the tax cap to be exceeded.

Budget Timeline

Quoting from Publication 1000:

The town clerk of a town has to submit a tentative budget to the town board on or before September 30.
A town board has until November 20 (or December 20 for towns in Westchester and Monroe Counties) to adopt the budget.
Accordingly, towns in counties other than Westchester and Monroe have more than 6 weeks to enact a local law that overrides the tax levy limit (which local law has to be upon the desks or tables of the town board members for at least 7 calendar days, excluding Sundays, unless there is a message of necessity). Towns in Westchester and Monroe Counties have nearly 6 weeks to pass such a local law.
As is required for all local laws, the proposed local law that overrides the tax levy limit is subject to a public hearing on five days notice, unless a local law prescribes a different notice requirement.
See [charts in Publication 1000: The Property Tax Cap] entitled “Timeline for Tentative Town Budget that Requires Tax Cap Override” and “Timeline for Tentative Town Budget as Amended by the Town Board that Requires Tax Cap Override.”.