Town sets hearing on overriding tax cap

Esopus Town Board members have set an Oct. 26 public hearing on overriding the state property tax levy limit.

Esopus Town Board members have set an Oct. 26 public hearing on overriding the state property tax levy limit.

The session is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Town Hall at 284 Broadway.

“The town is under jurisdiction of the state ... and for the last four years we have been under (the) cap,” Supervisor Diane McCord said. “Our bills have still gone up and we had to finagle the budget and ... this year one bill alone, which would be our health insurance, has increased by $12,000. That puts us over the cap.”

State officials have set the tax cap at 0.68 percent for towns in 2017, though each municipality will have a different rate based on growth factors and the amount a budget stayed under the levy limit in 2016. The base property tax levy limit was at 0.73 percent a year ago.

The cap was adopted by state lawmakers in 2011 to limit the annual growth of local property tax levies to the rate of inflation or two percent, whichever is lower, but excludes expenses such