Fulton Hearing Tonight on Local Law to Override State Tax Cap

FULTON – The Fulton Common Council will hold a public hearing tonight at 7 p.m. on a proposed local law to override the property tax levy limit set by state law. It is listed as Hearing #2 on the agenda: “Public Hearing Relative to a proposed Local Law to override the tax levy limit established in General Municipal Law § 3-c.”

The hearing gives residents a chance to weigh in before the council votes. Passing the local law does not raise taxes by itself. It gives the council legal permission to adopt a budget that goes over the state cap.

What is the tax levy limit?

The levy is the total amount of property taxes a city bills in a year. New York’s property tax cap, in General Municipal Law § 3-c, limits how much that total can grow. Most local governments and school districts can raise the levy by no more than the lesser of 2 percent or the state’s inflation factor, with some exceptions.

The limit applies to the city’s total levy, not to individual tax bills. The state Comptroller’s office notes that individual bills depend on various factors and can rise more than 2 percent.

What does an override do?

Cities don’t need voter approval to go over the cap. A governing board can override it by passing a local law with at least 60 percent of the board voting yes. Before adopting their budgets each year, all local governments must also file tax cap forms with the Comptroller’s office saying whether they plan to override the cap for the coming fiscal year. School districts are different: they need a ballot proposition and at least 60 percent voter approval.

What changes for taxpayers?

An override is permission, not a tax increase. What taxpayers see depends on what the council does next:

• If the council passes the override but adopts a levy within the cap, nothing changes for taxpayers. The Comptroller’s office says a planned override “does not necessarily mean” a local government will exceed the cap.
• If the council adopts a levy above the cap, the city can collect more in property taxes than the cap would otherwise allow. That generally means a higher tax rate, though each bill also depends on the property’s assessment.

Fulton isn’t alone

When asked why the city is pursuing the override, Mayor Rice pointed to a recent report from the state Comptroller’s office.

That August 20 report found a growing number of local governments are reporting plans to override the cap. Cities led the increase: 45 percent of cities reported plans to override for fiscal years ending in 2026, and nearly half (49.2 percent) did for fiscal years ending in 2025. In 2022, that figure was 13.1 percent.

Counties, villages, towns and fire districts also showed increases. The report says 35.5 percent of villages and 28.6 percent of towns planned overrides for fiscal years ending in 2026.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said many local governments “are under fiscal pressure, with rising costs and slower growth in recurring revenues.” The report says that as pandemic-related federal aid has dwindled, sales tax growth has moderated and inflation has risen above the 2 percent cap, more municipalities have reported override plans. In 2022, pandemic relief aid and a surge in sales tax revenue had pushed the numbers down.

DiNapoli urged local officials to “communicate with the public and be transparent about their fiscal challenges and plans for addressing them.”

Source: Office of the New York State Comptroller, “DiNapoli: Growing Number of Local Governments Reporting Plans to Override Property Tax Cap,” Aug. 20, 2026.