September 10, 2026
** NOTES **
1) Levy – the dollar amount to be raised by property taxes. This is the budget minus revenue from other sources.
2) Town taxes are levied on the prior year assessment roll. For example, while the 2026 assessment roll was finalized on July 1, 2026, the town will levy taxes on that roll for January 2027.
3) School taxes are levied on the current year assessment roll. The September 2026 school taxes are levied on the 2026 assessment roll.
4) Beginning in 2012, levies were ‘capped’ by NYS at 2% annual increase or inflation rate, whichever is less. The question of whether it is reasonable to expect any given tax district to cap their levy at 2% when inflation is higher is a difficult one. That is a decision each reader will have to come to when considering their own increasing household costs. The Assessor’s Office takes no position on this question.
5) The towns’ portion of the total County levy swings annually, sometimes wildly. This is due to the NYS calculation of Equalization Rates and its impact on each Town’s full value.
6) As of the publish date, 2027 levies are unknown. The reader should NOT imply anything from the depiction of 2027 on this chart. As soon as the numbers are known, the chart will be republished.
September 9, 2026
‘Why did my school taxes go up?’
Subsequent to the Town of Franklin 2026 Reappraisal, many have asked why their individual school taxes have increased. Below are the three most common reasons. While #’s 1 & 2 may not have affected you personally, # 3 impacts everyone.
- If your assessment increased a higher percentage than the tax base (aggregate value of all assessments) increased, you will pay a higher percentage of the school tax levy.
- If you have a STaR exemption on your primary residence, the tax savings is capped by NYS. Every dollar of increase in your school tax passes directly to you. The STaR exemption will never pick up that increase. As time goes by, the STaR exemption will continue to save you less and less. (This STaR savings cap will occur whether or not a Town reappraises all properties in any given year)
- If the school tax levy goes up, everyone in that district will pay higher school taxes. (As in the case of # 2 above, this increase will occur whether or not a Town reappraises all properties in any given year)
The Town of Franklin contains parts of five school districts; Delaware Academy, Franklin Central, Sidney Central, Unatego, and Walton Central.
Unfortunately, the NYS Comptroller’s Office does not post current school tax levy information. Thus, we are still compiling the current levy increases. The largest school district within the Town of Franklin is the Franklin Central School district. The levy and increase over the prior year is depicted below:
