Preliminary analysis shows tax bill increase smaller than anticipated for many
Red Hook Central School District
District officials uncovered good news for many residents this fall, as they examined the real impact of the district’s 2024-25 budget and existing capital project work on tax bills.
In looking at a random sampling of nearly 30 bills belonging to residents, Assistant Superintendent for Business Bruce Martin found the year-over-year increase in school taxes for residents in the Town of Red Hook to be roughly 0.7%.
That’s significantly less than the district’s projection, in May before the budget was approved by voters, that most bills would increase by 2.25% to 2.5%.
Martin noted the sampling was only for town residents, which accounts for most district families. However, residents in surrounding municipalities do see variations with some seeing larger increases for reasons specific to those areas.
Martin attributed the reduced tax increase to the growth of the district’s tax base being larger than anticipated.
“Most of the Town of Red Hook will be looking at something under 1%,” he said. “In Milan, I see some bills actually going down.”
The reduced tax bills reached residents in the weeks leading up to the district’s special proposition vote on Oct. 22, in which the voters are being asked to approve capital improvements to bolster safety and accessibilities of facilities.
The district’s last capital project, which was approved in 2022, has likewise brought positive news for taxpayers, as the true expense is coming in nearly $3 million under budget.
Martin said the growth or reduction of a tax base is the largest factor indicating what impact an increase in tax levy will have on property tax bills. The tax base grows as development increases, and is not largely impacted by changes in property values assessments.
“Just because we said our tax levy was up 3.47%, it’s substantially better than that,” Martin said. “We have a real growing tax base with new properties, improved properties, additions put on, and the like. … It should help folks to be even more supportive of the school budget, knowing that if the school levy grows at 3.5%, I actually won’t see my tax bills increase at 3.5%.”