CHENANGO COUNTY - New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has announced that for the first time since the implementation of the state mandated 2 percent tax cap, the state’s inflation rate has fallen below 2 percent, meaning local towns and municipalities will face a 1.66 percent tax levy cap as they prepare their 2014 budgets.

Under the state’s real property tax cap law, enacted in 2011, municipalities are limited to a 2 percent tax increase or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. The actual levy cap adjusts annually with the consumer price index.

Although a 1.66 percent limit on a tax levy increase seems more burdensome, some area municipal bookkeepers say it makes little difference as they compile numbers for the 2014 fiscal year.

“The formula allows for some adjustments,” explained Chenango county Treasurer William Craine, noting other sources of revenue including local sales tax for the county that prevent significant property tax rate increases.