Thiele Wants Fixes to Proposed Property Tax Levy Cap

New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., I- Sag Harbor, held a Q&A session with constituents at in Southampton Wednesday evening, during which he discussed the newly adopted state budget. A majority of the meeting was spent discussing the proposed 2 percent cap on school tax levy increases — a measure Thiele said he would vote for if certain criteria are met.

Among the 27 or so in attendance were representatives from several local school districts, all of whom had many concerns and questions about the proposed tax levy cap.

Thiele also took the opportunity to discuss several other areas of interest in the budget, including and cuts to Medicaid.

Tax Levy Cap

Thiele explained the details of the proposed cap, which states that school districts would only have the right to pose an increase of 2 percent on the tax levy each budget year. It would not directly impact a homeowner's particular tax increase, which is a function of the assessed value of his or her house and the tax rate. To pierce the cap, 60 percent of voters would need to cast ballots in favor of an override.

The cap is not scheduled to begin until 2012. Thiele said he expects the Assembly will vote on the matter in the next few months, but he believes the proposal needs work.

“I am not going to stand on the sideline and throw rocks on the idea of a property tax cap, because I think something's going to happen,” he said. “I've looked at tax caps that have been tremendous failures; there are some that have worked.”

He said that to support the tax cap, he believes a few things in the proposed law would have to be changed. Namely, he said, he believes that the tax cap should be overrideable by a simple majority vote, not a supermajority as currently proposed, and that there should be a "maintenance of effort" in state aid, whereby districts would get a more manageable amount of state funding, and relief from state unfunded mandates.

“In my opinion, the goal should be for us to reduce the reliance on property taxes for funding to school districts,” he said. “People should not have to have the feeling that the only choice is funding education or being able to pay their taxes.”

Some members of the audience nodded their approval when Thiele noted his disapproval of the supermajority vote requirement.  “It’s crazy,” said Christopher Kelley, the president of the Springs School Board. He said it was ridiculous that just over 40 percent of voters could block an override of the cap.

Another attendee, Walter Tice, a former president of the Sag Harbor School Board, asked Thiele how he could support the tax cap at all given the restrictions it would have on school districts.

“[The tax cap] will force school districts to curtail the quality of education ... and the tax cap mechanics will deprive taxpayers of the right to decide what they want to pay for school taxes,” he said. “Given the undeniable damage the tax cap will do to East End schools and students, and to the democratic process, how you can support it?”

Thiele explained that he would only support the cap if the provisos he mentioned previously in the meeting — the elimination of the supermajority vote requirement to override the cap, and the increased support of the state government — would be added to the law. “You can’t do a cap alone,” he said.

Another attendee, Sag Harbor School Board member Chris Tice, asked why the cap was even necessary.

“We already have a mechanism in place where the majority can decide,” she said. “I’m curious why there’s a feeling you need a tax cap.”

“There is a feeling that people support education, but they don’t necessarily support property taxes as a way to provide for quality education,” Thiele responded. “The downturn in the economy only made it worse.”

State-Funded Education Aid

Thiele also spoke briefly about the reduction in state aid to school districts that was passed this year. He noted that the cuts were not as excessive as had been originally proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“The best news I have is that at least the state budget is passed and you know what you’re dealing with,” he said. “The fear of mid-year budget cuts won’t be of concern this year.”

He noted that there is also expected to be a statewide increase in education aid of $800 million next year.

Health Care

Thiele explained that the projected growth in Medicaid was expected to be 13 percent, and given that a cap had already been placed on the county’s contribution, a cap was necessary for the state as well. He said that the budget includes a one percent reduction in costs for this year, and a cap of $15.3 billion on Department of Health Medicaid state expenditures.

“We tried to design this in a way not to have an adverse impact on hospitals,” he said. Following a question from the audience regarding the cuts, Thiele explained that the cuts were made mostly by slowing down the rate of growth of the program and through some restructuring.

Saltwater Fishing Licenses and Conditional Shellfishing Program

Thiele noted that two additional changes in the budget this year also allowed for the state to repeal its saltwater fishing license requirement and to reinstitute the conditional shellfishing program, both of which he feels will help the economy on the East End.

Thiele noted that he had been opposed to the saltwater fishing license program since its inception in 2009. Under new law, the license requirement will be transformed into a registration requirement. All those who purchased lifetime licenses will be granted a refund.

The conditional shellfishing program, which typically runs from mid-December to mid-April, allows fishermen to continue their business in the winter under certain conditions. The program was cut for the last two years due to lack of the $200,000 necessary to staff the positions needed to continue the program.