With village elections looming throughout Western New York, property taxes are a hot button issue. It’s especially hot in Depew where property taxes increased over forty percent in the last six years.
Supporters of the currently prevailing Action Party claim their opponents are using taxes as a political issue. They justify high taxes by citing a string of tax decreases in the late nineteen nineties and say that high taxes are a way of life in Western New York.
Critics from the People’s Voice of Depew Party counterclaim that Depew has the highest property taxes and that the current Mayor, who wasn’t in power in the nineties, is responsible for the forty percent plus tax hikes.
It’s hard to gauge which Western New York village actually has the highest property taxes. Village property owners are taxed by their Village, the Town the Village is in, School Districts, and Erie County.
The Village of Depew sits between two towns, Cheektowaga and Lancaster. There is a difference between the services that the towns charge for and the rates they levy for those services. For instance, even though Depew has its own police force, Cheektowaga charges Depew property owners for police services. The town of Lancaster does not.
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The Village of Depew collects more taxes than any Village in Erie County. In 2007 they collected $7.1 million. (1)
New York State’s Office of Real Property Services compiles information on property tax rates throughout New York State. Their latest available list shows rates for fiscal years ended in 2005. For the Villages, this includes the fiscal year of 2004-2005.
Based on the State’s statistics, the Village of Depew had the highest property tax rate among villages in Erie County in fiscal 2004-2005 ($16.85 per thousand). (2)
The State’s list is incomplete. Three villages are missing. The following list identifies the tax rates from the highest to the lowest.
Depew $16.85
East Aurora $15.58
Hamburg $12.75
Blasdell $12.52
Springville $12.10
Lancaster $11.99
Sloan $11.96
Angola $11.81
Alden $9.62
Farnham $9.06
North Collins $8.62
Williamsville $6.48
Akron $5.75
But these statistics show only a part of the whole.
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Some residents look at real estate web sites and compare tax rates on homes for sale. On March 12, 2007, Depew’s rates, among various price ranges, were the highest.
The average tax rates for village homes price at $89,900 were: Depew - $3,648, Angola - $3.515, Lancaster - $3,512, Kenmore - $3,206, and Hamburg - $2,372.
The average tax rates for village homes price at $99,900 were: Depew - $3,453, Hamburg - $3,436, East Aurora - $3,279, Kenmore - $2,723, and Orchard Park - $2,711.
The average tax rates for village homes price at $109,900 were: Depew - $3,852, Kenmore - $3,431, Springville - $3,385, Kenmore - $3,431, and Hamburg - $3,200.
The average tax rates for village homes price at $129,900 were: Depew - $5,559, Orchard Park - $4,350, Williamsville - $3,975, Hamburg - $3,229, and East Aurora - $3,037.
This method may show the variances in tax rates for houses selling at the same price, but it’s an incomplete comparison. Many of the Villages don’t have homes for sale at the same price. (3)
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Village property owners not only pay property taxes to their village governments, they pay taxes to the town they are located in, different school districts, and Erie County.
If you want a comparison of total Village rates, you have to break the Villages down by town and school district. That information is also available from the New York State Office of Real Property Services. Their latest available list covers the fiscal year 2004-2005. (4)
The following list breaks down the Villages by Town and School District from the highest to lowest tax rate for 2004-2005. The tax rates include Village, Town, School, and County property taxes.
1. Sloan – Cheektowaga town and Cheektowaga Central Schools $49.01
2. Depew – Cheektowaga town and Cheektowaga Central Schools $44.35
3. Kenmore – Tonawanda town and Kenmore - Tonawanda Schools $43.01
4. Lancaster – Lancaster town and Lancaster Central Schools $40.12
5. Depew – Lancaster town and Lancaster Central Schools $38.59
6. Gowanda – Collins town and Gowanda Central Schools $38.49
7. Depew – Cheektowaga town and Depew Schools $37.63
8. Farnham – Brant town and Lake Shore Central Schools $37.63
9. North Collins – North Collins and Springville Schools $35.94
10. Angola – Evans and Eden Central Schools $35.21
11. Williamsville – Amherst and Amherst Central schools $34.63
12. Lancaster – Lancaster and Depew schools $33.40
13. Hamburg – Hamburg and Hamburg Central Schools $33.31
14. Springville – Concord and Eden Central Schools $32.79
15. Hamburg – Hamburg and Frontier Central Schools $32.04
16. Depew – Lancaster and Depew Schools $31.87
17. Blasdell – Hamburg and Hamburg Schools $31.86
18. Alden – Alden and Alden Central Schools $31.32
19. East Aurora – Aurora and East Aurora Schools $30.62
20. Orchard Park – Orchard Park and Orchard Park Central Schools $26.88
21 Akron – Newstead and Akron Central Schools $26.10
In the combined taxes category, Sloan has the highest rates among Western New York Villages. One portion of Depew is second, two other portions of Depew are in the top ten, and the fourth portion is sixteenth.
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Does Depew have the highest property taxes in Western New York? The answer is: Yes and No.
The Depew Village Board levies the highest tax rate among village governments. So, Depew property owners pay the highest tax rate for village government.
When you compare combined tax rates – all property tax rates including village, town, school, and county – one portion of Depew pays the second highest, one portion pays the fifth highest, one portion pays the seventh highest, and one portion pays the sixteenth highest rate.
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Sources
(1) Erie County Department of Budget, Management, and Finance and Village Budgets
(2) New York State Office of Real Property Services, REAL PROPERTY TAX RATES IN CITIES AND VILLAGES Fiscal Years Ended in 2005
(3) HomeFinderExtra.com, March 12, 2007.
(4) New York State Office of Real Property Services, OVERLAPPING REAL PROPERTY TAX RATES IN CITIES AND VILLAGES Fiscal Years Ended in 2005
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