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Tax load heavy on 9 upstate counties
BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter

   Upstate New York has nine of the nation’s 10 most highly taxed counties as a percentage of home value, according to an analysis released last week by the Tax Foundation, based on U.S. Census data.
   Schenectady County is 10th on the list, a slight improvement from its No. 8 ranking last year. County taxes per se make up a only fraction of the total tax burden paid by homeowners and measured in the study, which includes school (typically the largest amount), local municipal and other property taxes.
   Leaving home values out of the mix, the top 10 counties with the highest median taxes are mostly in New Jersey, with Nassau and Westchester being the only New York counties to make the list. Schenectady comes in at 77th.
   But when the amount of taxes paid is divided by median home value, the upstate counties, mostly in western New York, move to the top, because house prices are so much lower there than in the New York City suburbs. Under that measure, Rensselaer County ranked 42nd highest in taxes nationwide, Albany County 106th and Saratoga County 202nd.
   The recent Census data covered only counties with populations exceeding 65,000, which leaves out Montgomery, Fulton and Schoharie. The most recent available figures including all counties, and taking into account house prices, are from 2000, when Montgomery County paid the second-highest property taxes in the nation. Schenectady was 10th, Fulton 17th, Rensselaer 45th, Schoharie 88th, Albany 112th and Saratoga 129th, according to the Tax Foundation.
   The foundation describes itself as “a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C.” It was founded in 1937 by a group of business executives concerned about the growth in government spending under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies.
   Assembly Minority leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, responded to the report by calling for passage of the Assembly Republicans’ New York State Property Taxpayers Protection Act, which would, among other things, cap school district tax levies at an annual increase of 4 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
   Tedisco also noted that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has recently expressed openness to the idea of capping property tax increases.
   Spitzer, a Democrat, along with school board and teachers union leaders, had previously opposed capping school taxes. Opponents say it would be undemocratic to tell school district leaders and voters that they cannot increase taxes and spending when needed.
   But in a Hofstra University speech on Aug. 28, as reported by Newsday and confirmed by Spitzer spokesman Jeffrey Gordon, the governor said: “We are going to have to figure out how we can solve that problem — whether we put caps on those increases or not is something we are going to have to debate, because I will not stand for the notion that we at the state [level] are finally doing what we have to do to cut the property-tax burden merely to see localities pushing back in the other way.”
   However, Gordon said Monday, “There are not plans to propose a property tax cap in the next budget.” Spitzer has an ongoing program of targeting education aid at needy districts and providing property tax relief through the STAR program, Gordon said. If taxes still go up, he said, then “at some point a property tax cap is an idea that warrants debate.”
   Spitzer’s predecessor, Republican George Pataki, had included a tax cap in his original STAR proposal, but STAR was enacted without one, and critics say it has encouraged school districts to increase spending.
   Scott Reif, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, RBrunswick, said the Senate has recently passed a one-house bill giving school district voters the right to impose a local property tax cap. The Senate also passed this year a more ambitious plan to phase out property taxes entirely, replacing the revenue with increased state aid from budget surpluses.
   Tedisco spokeswoman Laurie Ammerman said anticipated budget surpluses would also pay for the parts of the Assembly minority plan that call for more state spending, such as picking up much of the cost of mandates, testing and Medicaid.
   Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature, stressed that county taxes make up only a small portion of the total measured. She said she favors a state takeover of Medicaid, which would permit a county tax reduction of 50 percent.
   Ammerman said Tedisco had a “very cordial” conversation with Spitzer recently regarding capping and otherwise controlling property taxes, and the governor told him “everything is on the table.”

Well the County Council has really given us a real big tax cut we dropped from the 8th highest taxed county in the country to the 10th highest taxed county, all so we can have the most expensive 2 block area in the country while the rest of Schdy goes to hell in a hurry.

Suzie Savage says that all of the nay sayers are just resistant to 'change'. And that in the end (whenever that is), it will be worth it all! Perhaps she is corrrect. However, I will wait patiently to see taxes come tumbling down for the residents once this 'great 2 blocks' of State Street is truly developed. I highly doubt that. Some of these newly proposed loft Apt's will go for a whopping $2500/month.

Now, in Saratoga, they have a beautiful downtown section, actually reminiscent of Schenectady's long ago downtown section. However, the rest of Saratoga is beautiful. Clearly NOT falling down around Broadway in their downtown section. And yes Saratoga's downtown section is known for their bars and eateries, but there is plenty of retail/specialty shops to draw a diverse crowd. I don't see that  happening in Schenectady.

Gee, thanks, Suzie for your help. Let's let the state take over the county Medicaid.  If that happens all across the state, what happens?  You got it, you take the amount of money you were paying in County tax, and write out 2 checks, 1 not including the Medicaid payment and one for only the Medicaid Payment.  Send the Medicaid-free check to the county and send the Medicaid-only check to the State.  And where is the reduction in taxes for those you "represent," Ms. Savage?

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Well the County Council has really given us a real big tax cut we dropped from the 8th highest taxed county in the country to the 10th highest taxed county, all so we can have the most expensive 2 block area in the country while the rest of Schdy goes to hell in a hurry.

I would suggest that the drop from 8th to 10th on this illustrious list of counties may not result from any reduction in taxes at all, but, rather from the smaller drop in home values in the Capital District region relative to other areas of the country where the impact of the subprime mortgage fiasco has been more severe.  Note that the economy of the Capital District region often lags behind that of the rest of the nation.

And you know what else now?  Rotterdam's Re-evaluation is going to affect these numbers, too.  Since we just pushed up the value of many of the houses, the taxes would have to go up at an equivalent percentage to keep the county along the same road of keeping this notorious honor.  Imagine...a 50% tax increase across the board.  YIPPEE!!! (NOT!)

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And you know what else now?  Rotterdam's Re-evaluation is going to affect these numbers, too.  Since we just pushed up the value of many of the houses, the taxes would have to go up at an equivalent percentage to keep the county along the same road of keeping this notorious honor.  Imagine...a 50% tax increase across the board.  YIPPEE!!! (NOT!)

The re-val will also keep us building faster than the city.......in this case who ever has the most 'toys' wins.....let's be honest here....the only way to keep folks aware of our desire to keep the town 'A Nice Place to Live' is to make it 'look' that way.....How do you purchase carpeting(roads), new bath fixtures(sewers), curtains(lighting)???? with $$ of course....we just need to keep the leaders/planners honest and equitable when dealing with the entire town not just their own little neighborhoods......

They need to cut spending. Everytime some politician comes up with some new hair brained idea and don't know where the money will come from,, they just dip into OUR pockets and help themselves. Come on Mr./Ms. Policitician, you can squeeze just so much blood out of a stone!

BUMP! 2007!