To really understand how out of whack this is, look at a property in Brooklyn that also pays $6,500/yr in property taxes:

http://corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=760180

(go ahead and look, it’s worth it.)

It’s a 29 room, 5 story mansion, selling for $3.4M. (as in million)

Something is rotten in the state of New York.

Excellent blog. And as you know this topic is the reason I do not live in Rochester – a place I would very much like to live.

Wished I were at the conference – I would have loved to have seen if you had someone talk about Georgist single-use taxes, which seem to me to be the best way to heal what ails upstate NY.

Furthermore, I do not care what kind of tax reform proposals you can come up with, without a serious reconsideration of breaking the public school monopoly and a reconstitution of the Medicaid system, any property tax relief will be a Potemkin Village of help.

Keep up the good work.

-Mike

ARTICLE 13A [TAX LIMITATION] SECTION 1. (a) The maximum amount of any ad valorem tax on real property shall not exceed One percent (1%) of the full cash value of such property. The one percent (1%) tax to be collected by the counties and apportioned according to law to the districts within the counties….

Obviously, a 1% cap wouldn’t work in New York State, but 2% might, if the State backfilled the loss to local government, as the Golden State did. It has worked fine in California, since 1978. That state also has income tax rates much lower than New York’s regressive scheme, at least for low/middle income people.

A CAP is the only way to go. Not just a cap on the increase, but a cap on the overall tax rate. Nip it in the bud.

Robert Torzynski,
Greece, New York

I agree taxes are too high, but for me the killer is school tax! They build football shrines for playing, but only 55 sudents can be on a team and no girls! School districts spend way too much on non-educational items as compared to years ago!