Menands residents who pay Menands Union Free School District taxes could be faced with school taxes 8 percent higher or more after the Colonie Town Board passed a resolution unanimously on Thursday, Nov. 5, to move from a two-tier to a one-tier tax rate system in the town.
Under the two-tier system, residential property owners and commercial property owners pay a separate tax rate. In recent years, a base proportion shift based on home assessments has forced residential property owners to pay higher taxes than commercial property owners.
Since the Village of Menands is a hamlet of the Town of Colonie, Menands residents pay Colonie taxes.
Colonie Town Assessor Ron Monfils explained to the Town Board and residents that if the town did not move to a one-tier system, which would have both residential and commercial property owners paying $2.80 per thousand of assessed value under the 2010 budget, property taxes would increase in 2010 by between 4 and 5 percent.
The North Colonie Central School District moved to a one-tier system last year, and, according to Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, the South Colonie Central School District has indicated its plans to also move to a one-tier system. Mahan said that while the school districts can move to a one-tier system without the town doing so, once the town moves to a one-tier system the school districts must also.
While the one-tier system may not benefit Menands residents who pay taxes in the Union Free school district, Mahan argued that it would benefit the majority of Colonie residents by keeping their property taxes lower than they would be under the two-tier system, which Monfils said promises to raise the taxes at a 4 to 5 percent increase every year.
If we don’t make this move to the single-rate, it’s going to be detrimental to all the residents of the town, Mahan said.
Menands residents who attended the meeting argued that by passing the resolution, the situation will be detrimental for them.
`This is going to have a very negative impact on the residents of Menands,` said Joe Condon.
Condon later praised Mahan and the work she has been doing to restore fiscal stability to the town, though he said he did not support the resolution even after hearing Mahan’s and Monfil’s explanations of why it needed to be enacted.
The eight Menands residents who spoke at the meeting-none in favor of the resolution-were informed about the resolution after Menands Union Free School District Superintendent Kathy Meany sent a letter home to district residents informing them about the resolution and advising them that their school taxes will go up at least 8 percent in the 2010-2011 school year.
`Even without any increase in school district expenditures, this proposed change will result in an increase in school taxes of up to 8 percent for the 2010-2011 school year. A reduction of state aid due to the state fiscal situation would result in a school tax increase of even more than 8 percent,` the letter reads.
Mahan encouraged Meany to put together a committee so that the school district can look at ways to mitigate the issue through reducing school taxes.
`I would be more than happy to sit on that committee,` Mahan said. `We have to stay within the law and we have to do to stay within the law.`
After the resolution was passed, Meany said the school district will have to look into ways to trim their budget as to avoid a tremendous tax increase.
`We’ll have to because we know what people are facing financially,` she said, adding that as a result, district resources will have to be reduced.
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, Nov. 11, print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.“