Voters OKed the school budgets in May, setting how much in taxes each district would collect. But the tax rate — the rate at which each dollar of assessed home value is taxed at — could not be set until assessment rolls were finalized this month.

Tax rates for towns inside the districts differ because each town assesses its properties differently. To ensure that each town’s taxpayers pay their fair share in taxes, the state has something called an equalization rate, which equalizes each towns’ assessments to full market value to make up for any differences in how properties are assessed.

The equalization rates for each town are listed below for each of the Tri-Lakes school districts, below their respective tax rates.

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Tupper Lake

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The Tupper Lake Central School District $21.9 million budget was approved with a 55% majority of 116 votes in May after a controversial budget season as pandemic-era aid ended and the district eliminated several positions.

The budget fell below the state-imposed tax cap and calls for the district to be funded in part by taxing property owners $10.38 million.

The district sits in three towns — Tupper Lake, Piercefield and Colton — with a total taxable assessed value of $636,769,573.

The tax rate in Tupper Lake for the coming year is set at $17.38 per $1,000 of assessed value — $1.09 more than last year, or 6.69% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $5,214 in taxes over next year — $327 more than last year.

The tax rate in Piercefield for the coming year is set at $15.02 per $1,000 of assessed value — $1.28 more than last year, or 9.32% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $4,506 in taxes over next year — $384 more than last year.

The tax rate in Colton for the coming year is set at $13.99 per $1,000 of assessed value — $1.32 more than last year, or 10.42% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $4,197 in taxes over next year — $396 more than last year.

In May, voters also approved a tax for the library, which is collected through the school district. In TLCSD, the library tax adds between 38 and 47 cents to the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value, depending on the town — which has already been calculated into the tax rates above.

Tupper Lake has an equalization rate of 70%, Piercefield has an equalization rate of 81% and Colton has an equalization rate of 87%.

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Saranac Lake

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The Saranac Lake Central School District’s $37.3 million budget passed with 83.7% of the vote in May.

The budget fell below the state-imposed tax cap and calls for the district to be funded in part by taxing property owners $24.49 million.

The district sits in seven towns — Harrietstown, Brighton, Franklin, Santa Clara, North Elba, St. Armand and Black Brook — with a total taxable assessed value of $2.49 billion.

The tax rate in Harrietstown for the coming year is set at $11.04 per $1,000 of assessed value — $0.19 more than last year, or 1.78% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $3,312 in taxes over next year — $57 more than last year.

The tax rate in Brighton for the coming year is set at $7.75 per $1,000 of assessed value — $6.14 less than last year, or 44% lower. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $2,325 in taxes over next year — $1,842 less than last year.

The tax rate in Franklin for the coming year is set at $12.11 per $1,000 of assessed value — $1.41 more than last year, or 13% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $3,633 in taxes over next year — $423 more than last year.

The tax rate in Santa Clara for the coming year is set at $10.95 per $1,000 of assessed value — $0.10 more than last year, or 0.95% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $3,285 in taxes over next year — $30 more than last year.

The tax rate in North Elba for the coming year is set at $7.75 per $1,000 of assessed value — $0.17 less than last year, or 2% lower. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $2,325 in taxes over next year — $51 less than last year.

The tax rate in St. Armand for the coming year is set at $9.23 per $1,000 of assessed value — $0.43 more than last year, or 4.88% higher. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $2,769 in taxes over next year — $129 more than last year.

The tax rate in Black Brook for the coming year is set at $7.75 per $1,000 of assessed value — $0.16 less than last year, or 2.11% lower. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $2,325 in taxes over next year — $51 less than last year.

In May, voters approved a tax for the library, which is collected through the school district. In SLCSD, the library tax adds between 15 and 25 cents to the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value, depending on the town — which has already been calculated into the tax rates above.

The towns of Brighton, North Elba and Black Brook are up-to-date on assessments and have an equalization rate of 100%.

St. Armand has an equalization rate of 84%, Santa Clara has an equalization rate of 70.79%, Harrietstown has an equalization rate of 70.21% and Franklin has an equalization rate of 64%.

“The equalization rates are all over the board,” SLCSD Business Executive Cindy Moody said. “I’ve never seen them change as much as they have in the last couple of years.”

She said these changes play a big factor in the changes in the tax rate.

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Lake Placid

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The Lake Placid Central School District’s $22.4 million budget passed with 79.5% of the vote in May.

The budget fell below the state-imposed tax cap and calls for the district to be funded in part by taxing property owners $17.75 million.

The district sits in two towns — North Elba and Wilmington.

The tax rate in both North Elba and Wilmington for the coming year is set at $5.19 per $1,000 of assessed value.

In North Elba, this year’s tax rate will be $0.25 less than last year, or 4.82% lower. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $1,557 in taxes over next year — $75 less than last year.

In Wilmington, this year’s tax rate will be $1.57 less than last year, or 30.8% lower. Someone who owns a $300,000 home will pay $1,557 in taxes over next year — $480 less than last year.

The tax rates in each town last year were different because Wilmington was behind in its property assessments.

This year, both towns are up-to-date with 100% equalization rates. Last year, North Elba had a 100% equalization rate, and Wilmington had an 80% equalization rate.

It was unclear at press time if the LPCSD tax rate included the library tax rate.