New York Real Estate Taxes (Saranac Lake, Saranac: new home, school district, college)

[TN Lily]

Can someone please explain the governmental structure and real estate taxes in New York? I gather that a village is part of a town which is part of a county. Does a N.Y. village landowner pay real estate taxes to each layer of government? What is the school district tax? Is this part of the real estate tax? Will the new cap make much of a difference?

Anyone care to give an idea of what real estate taxes are like in a rural area of N.Y.? I gather that N.Y. state is a very expensive place to live when it comes to real estate taxes.

Thank you in advance!

[faithfulFrank]

Well, I'll give it a shot.

Yes, depending on where you live, you have a school tax and a property tax.
your property tax is different in almost each town. For instance, less then a mile away from me, within the city line, city residents have their school tax and a city tax and a county tax.

I live in the town, but in the same school district. I pay the same school tax. I also pay the county tax, but the town here has no town tax, due to having some great stores in the town, they have a zero tax rate. I do also pay small fire tax, which is included in the city tax.

Most places have true value taxation, which simply means your assessment is usually close to what you can sell your house for. Most places I know of have tax rates totaling between $15 -$40.00 per thousand. Our school taxes alone are over $20 per thousand. No wonder NY kids have such good schools.

I pay almost $6,000 in taxes here in NY, my house in florida is about a third of that.

i'm sure others here can explain things far better then I can.

Frank D.

[TN Lily]

Frank, thank you very much Frank for responding.

$15 to $40 per thousand dollars of assessed value is a lot compared to Virginia which is where I live. I suspect it is a lot compared to many other states. Why is the total real estate tax burden so much? Does it get you more or better services than a homeowner in another state?

[faithfulFrank]

I would suspect yes. Our schools are great. Our services are good. I am a firefighter, and I'm paid a good living wage.

Also, there are increased costs up here....snowplowing, potholes, rusty bridges, etc.

Our state college system is one of the best. There is also the debate that our taxes all go far, far away to a money pit called New York city. Sadly, we have a Cadillic (sp) welfare system.

Why do you think I'm taking my good pension and moving to Florida?

Frank D.

[TN Lily]

The high real estate taxes seem like a real disincentive for anyone to move into the state of New York. The real estate taxes in many Virginia counties is far less and I think we get pretty good services. I cannot compare the N.Y. college system to Virginia's, but Virginia's is not too shabby. Most government employees are paid a decent living wage from what I can tell. But Virginia's social service system is more like a beat up used car rather than a Cadillac.

My family recently visited the Lake Placid area. I was amazed at the poor condition of the roads. I know that snow and ice are hard on roads, but still the roads we drove on were in poor shape. The area is beautiful. I was also amazed that each village seemed to have a public library. That seems like a good thing. Lake Placid was also very dog friendly.

My husband would move to the North Country in a heartbeat if he could. He likes the cold and snow -- that would not be an issue for him. But the taxes are a major negative.

[kidzpta]

Hi, I was born and raised in the Lake Placid area. It is beautiful, like no other area I've ever been. I now live in a chicago suburb but really miss upstate NY. The only way to live there is to own a thriving business or retire to there. It is extremely difficult to make a decent living there, and it is tourist dependent (meaning seasonal). The schools are excellent far better than anything here in Illinois. The winters are very long and harsh, hard on everything and everyone. The roads are always needing repair, I do not know why. They used to be better kept.

[TN Lily]

Kidzpta, I like your modification of the word "business" with "thriving." While we were there, I noticed the many restaurants that had closed. I realize that the restaurant business can be hard even in regular places. I imagine that in a place filled mainly with tourists, it might be harder.

I have a friend from Saranac Lake who would love to return. But without a decent job, that is not possible.

It is a beautiful area. I can understand why folks would want to live there. I also can understand that unless you really like winter, this may not be the ideal year round spot.

[TughillTina]

Yes Tn lily you absolutely have to like winter and lack of sunshine for most of the winter months. Also taxes are ridiculous, not only do property owners get the shaft but it is not to business friendly either. So I would not look in this direction to move to.

[LIBoy]

You can look up the tax rates here:

http://php.democratandchronicle.com/tax_rates/?cnty=nassau

[TN Lily]

LIBoy, that is a pretty handy link for someone considering moving to N.Y. who wants to consider the real estate tax expense they would encounter in a new home.

It's a lot more than in Virginia!
The school tax is very high.