Prop. Tax Levy
In 2018, Brian Kulpa became town of Amherst Supervisor along with his running mates Jacqui Berger & Shawn Lavin as council members.
They took the tax levy at $74.4 million in 2018 & have since raised it 37.5% to $102.4 million in 2024
For comparison, the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) aggregate from 2018 to 2024 is 25.5%.
The Amherst town board, under supervision of Brian Kulpa, proposed to override the NYS Tax Cap limit 4 times, & 3 times voted to exceed the cap.
The only year taxes did not go up was during Brian Kulpa, Jacqui Berger, & Shawn Lavin’s re-election campaign.
Since they were re-elected property taxes have gone up 15.6% in two years alone.
In 2024, the general town fund tax increase was 37.9% and primarily pushed the 11.4% total property tax increase to residents to pay off general fund debt/bond principal & interest expense for discretionary projects like $48 million towards LED street lights, $12 million towards Westwood property, & other aspects like increases in town supervisor assistant salaries & department head salaries.
What is a property tax & a tax levy? The amount of your property tax bill is based on your property’s taxable assessment and local tax rates. Local governments determine tax rates by dividing the total amount of money that has to be raised from the property tax (the tax levy) by the taxable assessed value of real property in the municipality. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/orpts/taxworks.pdf
What is the NYS Property Tax Cap? The tax cap law establishes a limit on the annual growth of property taxes levied by local governments and school districts to two percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/orpts/capguidelines.pdf
Override the NYS Property Tax Levy Cap? The tax levy cannot exceed the cap unless 60 percent of the total voting power of the governing body (for local governments) approve such increase. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/orpts/capguidelines.pdf