School tax rates established; most less than projected

The majority of Fayetteville-Manlius School District property owners will see their 2021 tax rate decrease 0.58% compared to the 0% tax rate increase projected at the annual school district budget vote in May.

The Fayetteville-Manlius Board of Education adopted the 2021 tax levy—the amount of revenue to support the budget raised through school taxes—at its Aug. 9 regular meeting. The final tax rates decreased by 0.58% in three of the five towns within the district and increased in its other two towns due to reductions in those towns’ equalization rates.

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 $93,417,637 that included a proposed tax levy of $66,324,264. The tax levy was within the tax levy limit as established by New York state and represented a 1.1% increase.

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% and a corresponding tax rate of $25.61 per $1,000 of assessed value. 

The tax rate the board established Aug. 9 for the town of Manlius is actually a decrease of 0.58%, which translates to a tax rate of $25.25 per $1,000 of assessed value. 

The final tax rates for the other four towns within the district are as follows:

  • Cazenovia: tax rate increase of 1.47% and a corresponding tax rate of $26.03 per $1,000 of assessed value;
  • DeWitt: tax rate decrease of 0.58% and a corresponding tax rate of $25.25 per $1,000 of assessed value;
  • Pompey: tax rate decrease of 0.58% and a corresponding tax rate of $28.37 per $1,000 of assessed value; and
  • Sullivan: tax rate increase of 5.13% and a corresponding tax rate of $29.02 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Questions about assessments and equalization rates should be directed to the appropriate town assessor’s office.