Liberty Central School District lowers tax levy to help offset tax rate increases

 
Upon receiving the final tax equalization rates for the towns that make up the district, the Board of Education formally adopted the 2011-12 tax levy for the district at the August 23rd meeting, reducing the amount to 2 percent. Originally budgeted at 2.6 percent, the tax levy was decreased by the Board of Education by applying $107,315 in fund balance to offset taxes. The levy is the total amount of money the district must collect from property owners and it is figured after taking into account all other revenues, including state aid.

The school tax levy differs from the tax rate, which is determined by the individual towns that make up the district. Liberty Central School District falls in six towns including Bethel, Fallsburg, Liberty, Neversink, Rockland and Thompson. Therefore, each town has a different tax rate. In the Town of Liberty, the percentage increase in the levy has mirrored the percentage increase in the tax rate in past years. However, due to changes in equalization rates and assessments, the percentage increase in the tax rate will be slightly higher than the percentage increase in the tax levy.

“It’s important to understand that the school does not set the tax rates, only the tax levy. The Board of Education realizes that in these tough economic times, the district should do everything possible to help lessen the burden,” explains Liberty Central School District Business Manager Lorine Lamerand. “Using more fund balance to help ease the taxes paid by our residents is one way that we can help. It is the reason the district has been so steadfast in ensuring we have a balance to fall back on when situations like this arise.

Specific rates for each town are shown below and tax rates are rounded to the nearest whole penny. These numbers do NOT include changes due to the new STAR exemption cap of 2 percent.

Chart below is TOWN, TAX RATE Per $1,000 Assessed Value for 2010 and 2011 and Percent Change:

Town              2010            2011            % Change
Bethel            $42.84          $42.40              -1.03%
Fallsburg        $44.55          $43.91              -1.44%
Liberty            $32.78         $33.87                3.32%
Neversink       $610.26       $661.00              8.31%
Rockland        $37.12          $37.83               1.90%
Thompson      $31.11          $31.48               1.20%

Driving the differences in the tax rates include a reduction in assessed property values in the Town of Liberty of close to $2 million. Bethel also lost close to $1 million in assessed property value. Although there was a change in equalization rates, the major cause of tax rate increases were due to this loss in certain towns.

Tax bills will be mailed the first week in September. If you have any questions or would like more information regarding your tax bills, please contact the Tax Collector, Jeanne Dutcher at 845-439-3557 or the Liberty Central School Business Office at 845-292-5400.