Aug. 25, 2008 - The North Colonie Board of Education set the district’s 2008-09 property tax rates at its meeting today.

The tax rates are based upon the district’s 2008-09 budget, which voters approved in May. The budget calls for spending of $88,439,000.

Board members approved a 3.76 percent increase in the residential property tax rate, which brings the rate to $20.48 per $1,000 of assessed value. The tax bill for a home assessed at $150,000 increased $111, while a home assessed at $250,000 will see a $185 increase.

The tax rate for commercial properties will decrease by 2.46 percent if the board approves the current plan. That would drop the commercial rate to $20.14 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Under the plan board members approved, the change in the residential tax rate will remain the same as what was proposed in May. However, the board chose to reduce the tax levy by approximately $1 million by using more of the district’s fund balance, along with a projected increase in state aid.

The reason for the change is that the 2008-09 budget proposal was based upon the belief that the New York State Legislature would approve home rule legislation for the district, which it did in a previous year. The state Assembly passed home-rule legislation in May, but the Senate bill was never brought to the floor for a vote.

Below is a brief explanation of home-rule legislation and what it means to North Colonie:

Like the Town of Colonie and other school districts in the area, North Colonie has separate residential and commercial property tax rates. These rates are based on the respective assessed values of these properties and the percentage (also called the base proportion) of the total tax levy paid by each group.

In recent years, the value of residential property has increased much more quickly than the value of commercial property. So, for the past several years, the percentage of the levy paid by homeowners (the base proportion) has increased, meaning a greater tax rate increase for homeowners than for businesses. However, last year, home-rule legislation limited shifts in base proportions to the homeowners to only 1 percent.

Once it became clear that the legislation would not be passed or approved in time, administrators and board members met to discuss the changes outlined above. Had the board not devised these changes, the residential tax rate could have increased by as much as 7 percent.