The Democrat and Chronicle had this story on the front of the Local section today. It is the latest installment in their long-running series of articles on the fact that propery taxes in New York are too high and that local governments should be consolidated.
At the outset, let me note my concerns that local property taxes, particularly school taxes, may be too high. But the treatment that the D&C gives to the topic in today's article (like most of their stories on the issue) is far too superficial and leaves many questions unanswered. Further, the statistics listed in the article are not given context which would help us determine their relevance.
The main stat in the story is that Upstate NY counties have among the highest real property taxes as a percentage of home values in the country. On its face, that seems like a damning fact. But how about some context? According to the National Ass'n. of Realtors, real property values in this area are in the bottom ten (10%) percent of values of the 150 largest metropolitan areas in the country (4th quarter, 2007). Given that fact, its not really surprising that taxes, as a percentage of value, are high.
The other regular feature of this type of article is the inevitable statement that property taxes in other states are far less than taxes here on the same value property. What the D&C has repeatedly fails discuss is what is in the basket of goods and services which local taxpayers receive for their money. In Gates, for example, my Town tax levy pays for police, fire and ambulance services, the highway department (plowing, street repair & maintenence, etc.), the library, the parks and recreation department and various other items. If I wanted to compare my taxes with those of someone in Virginia or North Carolina, I would have to know if all of those items were provided by the local government there, or if there were other taxes (for example, in Virginia where there is a personal property tax that covers some items our County property tax is earmarked for) or if there were private entities that provided those services for a fee. Only if we knew the relative cost of the same basket of goods and services in each location, could we make a fair comparison.
I would also like to see another statistic which I believe would be telling. I'd like to know the percentage of local taxes to total state and local taxes and where NY stands relative to other states in that vein. I pay substantially more in State income, sales and use taxes than I do in local taxes. I would be stunned if much more than 10-15% of my total state and local tax dollars went to local governments. When consolidation advocates statrt telling me we will save a lot by cutting down the number of governmental units, I'd like to ask them to show me the proof. We will still have the gaping maw that is Albany!
There is no question we are overtaxed in New York. I am sure that many municipal governments, particularly school districts, could tighten their belts. But in the end, I doubt there is as much disparity between local taxes here and in other states as people anecdotally believe. The real problem remains our State government in Albany. Until they stop spending money like there is no limit to our resources, we will continue to see our State lose people and opportunity.
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3 comments:
New York State is the highest taxed state in the nation, and you are correct that the problem does come from Albany and not from the local level. What is needed to be understood is that we are also the most caring state in the nation and caring costs money thus the tax burden is higher in New York. Would you rather live in a state that doesn’t care about its poorest residents?
Could you imagine condoning managed medical instead of card blanch Medicaid? How about a poor kid that would be forced to wear Kmart basic sneakers instead of the latest of Nike Air Jordon sneakers, how would that affect his social growth? Could you possibly allow a person that is less fortunate ride a bus or have a 10 year old car? I think not and say NO! NO! NO! I would rather take money from the schools so that we have fewer resources to educate our children. I would rather stop work on road and bridge projects making our transportation system less safe and making sure that all of the families of the road and bridge workers don’t have paychecks. I would rather not expand jails and prisons, I would just put fewer criminals behind bars so that our streets are less safe.
What is really wrong with New York is that we have made POOR decisions.
The town taxes, and even the county taxes (80% of which are really State taxes, because they pay for the 80% of the county budget mandated by the State)are relatively reasonable.
It's the school taxes that are the killer, constituting 70-80% of the taxpayer's total property tax bill, depending on where you live. That's the tax that increases the most, every year, and over which voters really have no effective control.
Town tax rates often don't rise from year to year. The county tax rate has stayed the same for years. The school taxes are the killer.
Simon and Philbrick:
I agree with most of what both of you are saying.
I think most people understand that taxes are the cost of government services and that there are many government services that are necessary (even vital) and for which we willingly pay. It is when we see our tax dollars spent on services and programs of questionable merit and when we see government budgets unreasonably inflated by over-generous pay and pension deals, that many of us begin to balk.
The schools have definitely gotten away with very little fiscal discipline. I always laugh when school officials say that their budgets are the only ones that are voted on. Sure, but its a meaningless vote that is merely ignored as the "austerity budget" is passed.
One rather stunning statistic in the D&C article I referenced was the fact that NY school payrolls had increased by 12,000 persons while enrollments dropped by 16,000 students from 2000 to 2007.
Even so, I feel that school spending is at least largely directed towards a good: educating our kids (at least I believe that's true of the Gates-Chili schools). I am much less comfortable with the spending in Albany. And that is where the majority of my state and local taxes are paid.
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