For immediate release: August 14, 2006 Scotia-Glenville Board of Education sets 2006-07 school tax rate reflecting new Glenville assessments The Board of Education tonight unanimously set tax rates for the 2006-07 school year. The new Glenville tax rate is nearly $10 per $1,000 less than last year's rate, a drop that was expected with the reassessment of 11,000 properties throughout the town. Only Glenville is now at full-value; the other parts of the district are at partial value. These new rates for the three areas in the Scotia-Glenville School District will be reflected in school tax bills due beginning Sept. 1: • Glenville: $19.21 per $1,000 assessed value (2005-06 rate: $29.11 per $1,000) • Amsterdam: $173.83 per $1,000 assessed value (2005-06 rate: $162.59 per $1,000) • Charlton: $22.87 per $1,000 assessed value (2005-06 rate: $21.54 per $1,000) Last year, the average school tax bill for a home assessed at $100,000 was $2,911 before savings from the STAR program. Because of the increase in property values, the average home in Scotia-Glenville is now assessed at an estimated $156,000. That would mean a school tax bill of $2,997, an increase of $86 or 2.9 percent. Of course, each property owner's tax bill will be unique depending on the change in assessment. When voters approved the budget in May, the district estimated that the typical tax bill would rise 3 percent or less. The reassessment caused the state's reimbursement for basic STAR to increase to $39,070 and for enhanced STAR (for property owners over age 65 with income qualifications) to increase to $73,970. If a property owner is enrolled in the STAR program, the home's assessment is reduced by those amounts before the tax bill is computed. In addition, New York state will send each Scotia-Glenville property owner STAR-based rebate checks this fall of about $208 for basic STAR and $347 for enhanced STAR. The state Legislature approved the rebate checks in the spring. For more information, contact Superintendent Susan Swartz at 382-1215 or Robert Hanlon, Communications, at 386-4343.