Lowville school tax rate decreases again

LOWVILLE — Property owners in the Lowville Academy and Central School District will see another decrease in their tax rate, but it won't be as pronounced as in prior years because of more stable property values.

The Board of Education on Aug. 9 set the levy — or amount to be collected in taxes — under the budget of $3,851,072. This is the fourth straight year that the levy has stayed at that level.

The district's full assessed value increased from $460.1 million to $466.4 million.

That caused the full-value tax rate to drop by 1 cent per $1,000 of assessed value, from $8.28 to $8.27.

However, some residents will likely see a slight tax increase because of a drop in School Tax Relief, or STAR program funding, Superintendent Kenneth J. McAuliffe said.

Only $642,455 of collected taxes is to be covered by the state program, down from $740,333 last year.

While residents of some towns — like Lowville — will see a reduction in STAR funding, those in others — like Martinsburg — will not, Mr. McAuliffe said.

The district since the 2006-07 school year has utilized payment-in-lieu-of-taxes funding from the Maple Ridge Wind Farm to maintain, and even lower, the annual tax levy. That, along with rising property values in the district, has caused the full-value tax rate to steadily drop from $14.82 per $1,000 in 2005-06.

"That's the power of the PILOT," Mr. McAuliffe said.