Election day is Tuesday.

Don't Forget to Turn Over Your Ballot!

Rensselaer City School District along with all other city school districts need your support! On the ballot in the upcoming elections is a proposed amendment to the State Constitution to allow small city school districts to have the same debt limit as other non-city school districts. 

 Currently, the State Constitution limits indebtedness for small city school districts to 5% of their full value property wealth while a state law establishes a 10% limit for all other districts. 

The proposition on your ballot will read as follows:

“The proposed amendment to Article 8, section 4 of the Constitution removes the special constitutional debt limitation now placed on small city school districts, so they will be treated the same as all other school districts. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?”

**ALL VOTERS have the opportunity to vote on this proposition!**

Click on this link for a detailed explanation from Senator Shelley Mayer  AND Check out the NYS Association of Small City Schools District's webpage.

A Yes Vote Will:

Remove the current limitation of a 5% debt ceiling and allow its replacement in Statute to the 10% debt ceiling all other non-city school districts operate under.

Many of New York's 57 small city school districts must break up needed construction and improvement projects into a series of small projects spread over many years to remain under their debt limit.  A 10% debt limit will allow such projects of larger scope and scale to be completed sooner with better financial efficiency.

The small cities were named in the NYS Constitution in 1951 as a way to give control and responsibility for their fiscal affairs.  This 5% limit is the lowest included in the Constitution or in Statute and now in 2023, does the opposite, limits a small city school district's ability to control its fiscal affairs.

A Yes Vote Will Not:

Increase your Taxes