Help me understand Property Taxes on LI (Nassau: low income, how much)
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Hi
I'm a Westcoast girl with a "1995 built, 1700 sq foot $150k house". My taxes are 2k/ year.
I'm interviewing for a job in central LI and can live anywhere. I have been zillowing the houses and am in shock- It's not the prices ( which are high, but hey an hour from NYC is expected) but the taxes! $9k for a 350k home? Wow. I have been following this forum to find a good area and could use help. My husband and I are empty nesters so we have no worries about school districts (until it's time to re-sell. ) I need an area that I can sell quickly if need be, so we are looking in the lower price ranges $350- $450k.
Q1- How are taxes determined? It seems to be totally random, without ties to the price of a home. Two homes, same town- the lesser priced home will have $800 more in taxes. (but maybe it's the weird hamlet thing Walter keeps pointing out). Is there a chart somewhere of how each town/hamlet is taxed?
Q2-What is STtAR and is it just for low income people?
Q3- Are there any limits to increases, most seem to go up 1k per year.
Q4-We are looking at a home with a good chunk of vacant land on a seperate deed-Is a vacant parcel charged less than a home? If we fix up a home, will that increase it's taxes?
Sorry about the length of my Q. Appreciate any insight.
I can't specifically break it down for you since it's confusing for me also. The bulk of our tax bill is the "school tax". Where I live, the school gets $6400 from my taxes !! And I only live on a 1/4 acre parcel.
It's absurd here on L.I. and it's driving retirees away....me included (when I get there) If you're working in central L.I., i'd try looking at eastern suffolk towns.
If I were you, i'd look at the different school districts and make my choice from there.
Q1- How are taxes determined? It seems to be totally random, without ties to the price of a home. Two homes, same town- the lesser priced home will have $800 more in taxes. (but maybe it's the weird hamlet thing Walter keeps pointing out). Is there a chart somewhere of how each town/hamlet is taxed?
RE taxes are based upon the assessed value of the home and the tax rate for schools, county, town, village and some "special districts" The bulk of your RE taxes...about 75% are for schools. School districts have strange boundaries and may be the reason for the $800.00 difference .
Q2-What is STtAR and is it just for low income people?
Star is a political stroke job by our useless state politicians. they want you to believe they're giving you something when in reality it's state dollars being returned. Everyone qualifies for the basic star.
Q3- Are there any limits to increases, most seem to go up 1k per year.
State laws cap assessments but nothing so far caps the tax rate.
Q4-We are looking at a home with a good chunk of vacant land on a seperate deed-Is a vacant parcel charged less than a home? If we fix up a home, will that increase it's taxes?
Usually improvements ( a house) is assessed more than just vacant land. Depends on what type of fixes you do ie new windows, siding no...a new deck yes
In my experience between 2 homes in a mediocre school district and a good school district, it is between $500 and $1000/year in increases. And as mentioned, even if your assessed value goes down the following year, the tax rate may go up. STAR will get you about $1k back and then you can also grieve your taxes which may give you back another $1k.
Property taxes are the sum of the property tax levied by up to 20 or so taxing districts in which the property is located. These taxing districts are the county, town, village, if in a village, school district, library district, fire district, water district, sewer district, park district, etc., etc., etc.
Each of these taxing districts passes a budget, some by a vote of the residents of the taxing district and others by the governing board of the taxing district.
The budget is then divided by the sum of the assessed value within the taxing district to arrive at the property tax rate, which is then applied to each individual property within the taxing district to calculate that property's tax bill for that specific property.
Do this for all the 20 or so taxing districts that a property is located in and sum these 20 or so property tax bills to arrive at the total property tax bill for that property.
Repeat the next year to calculate the next year's property tax bill, and so on and so on ...
Property taxes are the sum of the property tax levied by up to 20 or so taxing districts in which the property is located. These taxing districts are the county, town, village, if in a village, school district, library district, fire district, water district, sewer district, park district, etc., etc., etc.
Each of these taxing districts passes a budget, some by a vote of the residents of the taxing district and others by the governing board of the taxing district.
The budget is then divided by the sum of the assessed value within the taxing district to arrive at the property tax rate, which is then applied to each individual property within the taxing district to calculate that property's tax bill for that specific property.
Do this for all the 20 or so taxing districts that a property is located in and sum these 20 or so property tax bills to arrive at the total property tax bill for that property.
Repeat the next year to calculate the next year's property tax bill, and so on and so on ...
Keep in mind your taxes can and will go up every year. Especially the school taxes which are voted on every year (and the budget is usually passed) - this is a key difference between here and CA.
As far as finding land with a deeded parcel next to it - good luck with that. Land is at a premium here, just like Cali.
Property taxes are a hyperbolic function, where AB = C.
A = tax rate per $1,000 assessed value.
B = assessed value.
C = property tax.
The several taxing jurisdictions that a property is located in each figure out how much they need to collect from property taxes, after subtracting any other funds, including inter-governmental transfers, from their budget, and then divide this amount by the sum of assessed value within the taxing district to calculate the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value.
Taxing districts that have a large commercial property tax base have a lower property tax rate than does a taxing district that does not have a large commercial property tax base, even if the two districts have the same budgetary expenses.
Also, and this is where many folks get confused, if much of the property in a taxing district receives a lower assessment, and if the budgetary expenses remained the same, if not larger, the tax rate would, by definition, rise to compensate for the decrease in assessments.
I gotta say Walter, that is exactly how I understand how the RE taxes work in LI. It's a rat race to make sure your assessment is lower then the house next door so you end up paying less of the school budget then the next guy... and also hoping the house next door didn't do the same.
What's even more sneaky is that Nassau county home owners pay taxes a few years ahead, so that means when you get your assessments lowered, the county doesn't need to pay interest on back payments. How about that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan
Property taxes are a hyperbolic function, where AB = C.
A = tax rate per $1,000 assessed value.
B = assessed value.
C = property tax.
The several taxing jurisdictions that a property is located in each figure out how much they need to collect from property taxes, after subtracting any other funds, including inter-governmental transfers, from their budget, and then divide this amount by the sum of assessed value within the taxing district to calculate the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value.
Taxing districts that have a large commercial property tax base have a lower property tax rate than does a taxing district that does not have a large commercial property tax base, even if the two districts have the same budgetary expenses.
Also, and this is where many folks get confused, if much of the property in a taxing district receives a lower assessment, and if the budgetary expenses remained the same, if not larger, the tax rate would, by definition, rise to compensate for the decrease in assessments.
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Wow. I have been following this forum to find a good area and could use help. My husband and I are empty nesters so we have no worries about school districts (until it's time to re-sell. ) I need an area that I can sell quickly if need be, so we are looking in the lower price ranges $350- $450k. 
. (but maybe it's the weird hamlet thing Walter keeps pointing out). Is there a chart somewhere of how each town/hamlet is taxed?
