Two Propositions On Ballot For Election Day

2023 Sample Ballot – Propositions

In addition to voting for local candidates on Election Day, voters in New York will also decide on two statewide ballot measures regarding constitutional debt limitations.

Both constitutional amendments were referred to the ballot by the New York State Legislature.

According to Ballotpedia, in New York, to amend the state constitution, each chamber of the legislature must pass the amendment by a simple majority vote in two consecutive legislative sessions.

Proposal 1, if approved, would eliminate the constitutional debt limit for small city school districts, which is defined as any school district partly or fully within a city with less than 125,000 inhabitants.

Presently, the debt limit is set at 5% of the average total value of property tax rolls for the preceding five years within the district.

According to Ballotpedia, both chambers of the State Legislature voted to place the amendment on the ballot in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the Senate voted 56-5 to place the amendment on the ballot, and the Assembly voted 148-1.

In 2023, the Assembly voted 145-0, and the Senate voted 60-2. All “no” votes were from Republican state legislators. Democratic state legislators, along with the other Republican legislators, voted “yes”.

Proposal 2 would extend for 10 years an existing constitutional provision regarding indebtedness for the construction and maintenance of sewage facilities. This provision was designed to exclude constitutional debt limits when it comes to the construction or maintenance of sewer facilities.

Under the New York Constitution, state municipalities have a limit on how much debt can be incurred. The percentage varies by municipality. With the approval of Amendment 5 in 1963, debt incurred from the construction or improvement of sewage facilities was exempt from this constitutional debt limit.

An extension of the amendment was approved by voters an additional five times every 10 years.

Proposal 2 unanimously passed in both chambers of the Legislature in two consecutive sessions in 2022 and 2023.