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Some school superintendents are critical of the 60 percent supermajority that is needed to exceed the property-tax cap after their budgets failed to achieve an override.

Only 24 budgets were rejected on Tuesday, with 19 in districts that sought to override the cap.

About 50 districts sought to exceed the tax-cap limit, and that meant getting 60 percent of voters—a so-called supermajority—to pass their budgets.

“I am personally and professionally still struggling with the fact that I’m living in a state where a no vote counts more than a yes vote,” said Deborah Haab, superintendent in Highland, Ulster County, where the override failed, but was approved by 51 percent of voters.

“I don’t understand how that is constitutional or democratic,” she said.

In New Paltz, the budget was passed by 59 percent of voters. If eight voters had voted yes instead of no, the budget would have passed, said superintendent Maria Rice.

The schools that sought an override and failed are now left to decide whether to again seek an override or to lower their budgets to fall in line with their tax cap amount.

The decision is critical. Under the tax cap, if a budget fails twice, they cannot raise taxes at all in the coming school year, which starts July 1.

The next budget vote is June 19.

New Paltz’s budget was proposed with a 4.4 percent tax levy increase. Rice said the district would now likely seek a budget at its cap limit of 3.4 percent—a move that would only need a simple majority to win voter approval.

“As a superintendent, I can’t in good conscious recommend that we would go above the 3.4 percent tax-levy limit,” Rice said. “The stakes are way too high.”

Elmira had its override rejected Tuesday when the budget was approved by 55 percent of voters. The district was seeking a 5 percent property tax levy increase to stave off additional cuts in staff and services. It was already proposing to cut 111 staff positions.

Its cap limit was 2.6 percent, said Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter.

“Legislators passed a law that allows the minority to control the majority,” Hochreiter said Wednesday. “Fifty-five percent of our public supports what we are trying to do, yet 45 percent of the public wins.”

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With a property tax cap on the books for the first time,

96 percent of school budgets in New York were approved Tuesday, the state’s

teachers union said Wednesday.

The overwhelming support for school budgets came as 92

percent of districts kept within tax increases prescribed in the

state’s new tax cap, which took effect for the first time this year.

Based on preliminary results, the New York State United Teachers

union estimated that voters Tuesday approved 597 school budgets and 24

budgets were defeated.

The defeated budgets were mainly in districts that sought to defy

the cap and receive 60 percent of the vote — the supermajority needed to

override the cap amount.

Of the roughly 50 school districts that exceeded the property-tax

cap, only 24 districts returned a 60 percent supermajority, the union

said based on its review.

Schools sought an average of a 2.2 percent property tax increase for

the 2012-13 school year, which starts July 1, according to the state

Education Department.

NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said voters recognized that

school districts make cuts in staff and programs to contain costs and

taxes.

“New Yorkers see their public schools are doing a terrific job,

producing excellent results amid budgetary challenges resulting from

the undemocratic tax cap and from the state’s failure to invest in

public schools,” he said in a statement.

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