School tax rates drop in most of district

Lower amount per $1,000 of assessed property value OK’d for 7 communities

The Kingston school district’s residential property tax rates are going down in seven of the 10 communities that make up the district.

Commercial tax rates are decreasing in eight communities.

The rates for 2018-19, approved by the Board of Education on Wednesday, will help fund the $175 million school district budget that voters approved in May. And though most tax rates are declining, the total amount to be generated by taxes is forecast to rise by 2.6 percent, to $104.1 million — the result of increased property assessments and changes in some communities’ equalization rates.

Equalization rates help apportion tax loads fairly among assessing jurisdictions as property values fluctuate and each jurisdiction follows its own assessing practices in response.

The district’s 2018-19 tax rates per $1,000 of assessed property value will be as follows.

• Esopus: Residential, $21.89, down 1.3 percent decrease from 2017-18; commercial, $29, down 1.4 percent.

• Hurley: Residential,

$21.91, down 1.4 percent; commercial, $28.99, down 1.3 percent.

• City of Kingston: Residential, $21.79, down 1.2 percent; commercial, $31.62, down 1.5 percent.

• Town of Kingston: Residential, $24.45, up 0.9 percent; commercial, $31.64, up 0.4 percent.

• Marbletown: Residential,

$21.32, down 1.2 percent; commercial, $28.35, down 1 percent.

• New Paltz: Residential, $21.69, down 1.2 percent; commercial, $38.89, down 1.6 percent.

• Rosendale: Residential, $22.03, down 1.2 percent; commercial, $28.51, down 1.6 percent.

• Saugerties: Residential,

$22.23, down 1.1 percent; commercial, $28.22, down 5.8 percent.

• Town of Ulster: Residential, $27.83, up 1.9 percent; commercial, $38.49, up 2 percent.

• Woodstock: Residential, $22.94, up 3.5 percent; commercial, $30.02, down 3.3 percent.