Message from John J. Belmonte, Assistant Superintendent for Business

Re:  State Information on the Property-Tax Freeze Credit

To be eligible for the State’s Property-Tax Freeze Credit—a two-year program—all school districts must fulfill certain requirements.

• FIRST YEAR: School districts must pass a 2014-2015 school budget within the Tax Levy Cap.
• In June 2014, the voter-approved Sayville School District Budget was within the Tax Levy Cap. As a result, eligible Sayville residents can be expecting the Property-Tax Freeze Credit. (See page 4 of the Property Tax Freeze Credit Eligibility pdf attached for an example of how the Property-Tax Freeze credit is calculated.)
• Sayville School District recently received information from the State that suggests the community will be receiving their rebates in October 2014.

• SECOND YEAR:
• School districts must pass a 2015-2016 school budget within the Tax Levy Cap.
• School districts must file an Efficiency Plan with the NYS Department of Budget demonstrating a 1% saving on the district’s 2014 tax levy.

At this time, Sayville School District is anticipating the need to file an Efficiency Plan and has begun the process by setting up a Sayville Efficiency Committee, comprised of constituents from the local and school communities.  The work of the committee will serve as additional suggestions and recommendations that may be incorporated into the District’s Efficiency plan.The BOE and District Administrators will finalize the District’s plan to ensure its timely submittal to the Department of Budget, by June 1, 2015, fulfilling the requirements of the Property-Tax Freeze Credit, thus enabling Sayville residents to benefit from the program.

As this is an ongoing process, further updates about our progress will be made available whenever possible.

 

slide presentation prepared by Questar III, State-Aid Planning Group

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