Long Island School Tax Math (credit, home, school district)

[lifetimeliguy]

My school district stayed under the 2 percent cap (1.99% , what a coincidence !) , but the actual increase in my school tax was over four percent on my newly arrived tax bill. The new bill shows the increase as 1.99 percent, but the actual increase was over $300 on $7400
No change in my status regarding STAR, reassessment, etc.

Called the town, they advised to call the school district , but no answer from them yet.
Does anyone understand the pretzel logic used by the districts to calculate the actual amount charged to the homeowner ?
TIA

[94nasupra]

There’s a lot of factors. You need to look at your schools budget and see if the total matches your tax bill. I would start there if you really care. Because at the end of the day your liable for it anyways.

[gx89]

My taxes where same 1.99% hike and went from up $200 from 14.8k - 15k.

[kmrlongisland]

Originally Posted by lifetimeliguy

My school district stayed under the 2 percent cap (1.99% , what a coincidence !) , but the actual increase in my school tax was over four percent on my newly arrived tax bill. The new bill shows the increase as 1.99 percent, but the actual increase was over $300 on $7400
No change in my status regarding STAR, reassessment, etc.

Called the town, they advised to call the school district , but no answer from them yet.
Does anyone understand the pretzel logic used by the districts to calculate the actual amount charged to the homeowner ?
TIA

Simple, some of the expected expenditures listed in the school budget are not used to calculate the tax levy. Our SD has NOT pierced the tax levy cap in years but the budget always increases between 3.5%-5%.

[Smash255]

Originally Posted by lifetimeliguy

My school district stayed under the 2 percent cap (1.99% , what a coincidence !) , but the actual increase in my school tax was over four percent on my newly arrived tax bill. The new bill shows the increase as 1.99 percent, but the actual increase was over $300 on $7400
No change in my status regarding STAR, reassessment, etc.

Called the town, they advised to call the school district , but no answer from them yet.
Does anyone understand the pretzel logic used by the districts to calculate the actual amount charged to the homeowner ?
TIA

A couple things I can think of.

1. If your assessment didn't change, it is possible other assessments in your school district or even the average assessment went down, which in turn would mean the portion of the tax bill you would pay would be higher. The 1.99% increase would be the 1.99% in the total tax collection, however that might not be distributed evenly as 1.99% for each property owner, some could pay a little less or some a little more. How any assessment change you had or did not have compares to the overall average assessment change across the taxing jurisdiction would be a factor. Another would be if any more or fewer properties were taxed compared to last year.

2. Another possibility is if while your assessment itself did not change, the taxable value changed. There are times the taxable value on a property can be less than the assessed value, so its possible your home might have been taxed at slightly less than the assessed value last year.

[yamvmax1]

It's called LI math. The answer is always getting charged more.

[agw123]

The taxable limit for the SD is allowed to rise up to 2%. How each person pays can be different. Someone has to pay for the credits for vollies, seniors, etc...

[hotkarl]

$26 + $143 = $12,761
That’s tax math.

[NYTom]

You crack me up ^

[gx89]

I got my bill yesterday. $204 hike, shockingly school taxes went up $84 fire sept was $50. I can live with a hike like that as it’s a cost of living adjustment. My friends in commack got walloped.