School taxes for Tupper Lakers going up by 4.28%, down for Piercefield, Colton property owners
by Dan McClelland
The Tupper Lake Board of Education met in special session Monday to finalize the tax rates in the district’s three towns, in preparation for school tax bills coming next month.
Town of Tupper Lake school taxpayers will see their school tax rate increase from the current rate of $14.71 per $1,000 assessed valuation to $15.34 per $1,000- an increase of 63 cents per $1,000 this year. It represents a 4.28% increase in taxes.
By contrast, however, property owners in Piercefield and Colton will see their school taxes drop when their bills arrive in September.
The 2022-23 school tax rate in Piercefield is $13.66- down by 2.3% from the current tax rate of $13.99. The 2022-23 tax rate for property owners in Colton drops too by over a $1 per $1,000 or 7.39% to $12.94 per $1,000 of assessed valuation- from $13.99 last year at this time to $12.94 per $1,000 for the new school year.
A factor in the new tax rates are declining state equalization rates in each of the towns. Tupper Lake’s equalization rate dropped this year from 95% to 81%. Piercefield’s equalization rate dropped from 100% to 91% and Colton’s from 100% to 96%. The state equalization rates set each year are based on a comparison of assessments here and full market values.
The total tax levy shared by district taxpayers is up by 3.06% to $9,275,397 from $9 million in 2021-22. Tupper Lake taxpayers will together pay $7.1 million of that, while Piercefield property owners will contribute $1.765 million and Colton taxpayers, only $332,841. That’s based on the fact that only a small portion of Colton lies within this school district.
The tax cap allowed by the state for this school district for the coming school year was 3.064%. District officials used all of that in their budget preparation this spring, with the total tax levy increasing to $9.275 million in the new budget from $9 million this current year, 2021-22.
When the budget for the operation of the Goff Nelson Memorial Library is figured into the equation, Tupper Lake property owners will see an additional 42 cents per $1,000 added to the tax rate on their bills next month. The combined school and library rate is $15.77 per $1,000. That is up by 66 cents per thousand or 4.35% over the current year. The tax levy contribution to the library from Tupper Lake this coming school year is $198,086. The tax rate to fund the library of 42 cents per $1,000 is up by 7.2%.
Piercefield property owners will contribute $48,716 to the financial workings of the library here with a tax rate assessment of 38 cents per $1,000 on their property. That rate is up one half of one percent. Colton property owners will ante up $9,186 toward the operation of the library this coming year with a school tax rate of 36 cents per $1,000, which is down by 4.8% over the current school year.
The school tax rate in Tupper Lake has increased from $12.74 per thousand in the 2014-15 school year to $15.34 per $1,0000 this coming year or by 21%. During that same nine-year period the Tupper Lake school tax levy, or the amount property owners pay in support of local education here, has grown from $5.8 million to $7.2 million or an increase of 24%.