by

Each time a high-turnover, children-purposed home displaces a low-turnover multi-generational home, the balance shifts towards higher school taxes and school overcrowding.

Residential Expansion: Double Effect on RCSD

Homes without school-age children benefit the Rye City School District (RCSD) because, like an endowment, they help pay for education without affecting enrollment. For this reason, it’s important to have a healthy ratio of homes with and without school-age children. If this ratio becomes skewed, the community reaches a tipping point which, in turn, can lead to polarization and instability.

According to the 2011 Roll, annual school taxes on most homes (more than eighty percent) are less than the cost of educating one student in the Rye City School District (RCSD). While it’s true, overall assessed value may increase, residential expansion burdens the school district — while depleting the stock of homes that bolster the district. The illustration above shows the imbalance caused by this double-effect.