The majority of Fayetteville-Manlius School District property owners will see their 2020 tax rate decrease 0.35% compared to the 0.50% increase projected at the annual school district budget vote in May.
The Fayetteville-Manlius Board of Education adopted the 2020 tax levy – the amount of revenue to support the budget raised through school taxes – at its Aug. 10 regular meeting. The final tax rates decreased by 0.35% in every town with the exception of the town of Pompey. The town of Pompey is seeing a 5.25% increase due to a significant reduction in equalization rates for that town.
Tax rates vary from town to town because every summer the state assigns an equalization rate for each town that creates an assessment value equal to its full market value. This process is intended to ensure that each town pays its fair share of school taxes based on the town’s fair market value.
The school district does not have any control over property assessments or equalization rates. The district and its residents do control the property tax levy, and in May, voters approved a spending plan of $88,298,298 that included a proposed tax levy of $65,592,550.
Using that figure, F-M administrators in May estimated residents in the town of Manlius, which makes up 81% of the district, would see a tax rate increase of 0.50% and a corresponding tax rate of $25.61 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The tax rate the board established Aug. 10 for the town of Manlius is actually a decrease of 0.35%, which translates to a tax rate of $25.40 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The final tax rates for the other four towns within the district are as follows:
- Cazenovia: tax rate decrease of 0.35% and a corresponding tax rate of $25.65 per $1,000 of assessed value;
- DeWitt: tax rate decrease of 0.35% and a corresponding tax rate of $25.40 per $1,000 of assessed value;
- Pompey: tax rate increase of 5.25% and a corresponding tax rate of $28.53 per $1,000 of assessed value; and
- Sullivan: tax rate decrease of 0.35% and a corresponding tax rate of $27.60 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Questions about assessments and equalization rates should be directed to the appropriate town assessor’s office.