Erie County Property Tax Bill higher then you expected
http://buffalonews.com/2018/02/12/wh...-you-expected/
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Erie County Property Tax Bill higher then you expected
http://buffalonews.com/2018/02/12/wh...-you-expected/
Actually that’s not the answer at all. Most people in WNY are pretty dumb but maybe, one day, enough will be able to figure this one out. When and how does an increase in property values automatically dictate an increase in a municipal budget? It comes down to a group of incompetent and corrupt elected officials. Wish our newspaper had some balls to report what’s really going on.Quote:
Their question: Why are county tax bills arriving in the mail more costly than a year ago?
The answer's a bit complicated. But it comes down to this: Property values across Erie County are rising.
We need to define what incompetent and corrupt really means. Many of use have our own definition of incompetent and corrupt but some people believe it's just business as usual.
The budget basically a fixed cost, correct? So if property values as a whole were increasing the tax rates for those properties would be decreasing.
IE:
If the budget was $500,000,000 million dollars and there was $10,000,000,000 worth of property the tax rate would be 5%. Right?
$10,000,000,000 would be charge 5% to generate $500,000,000.
$10,000,000,000 X .05 = $500,000,000
Now if the property value went up 15% that means $10,000,000,000 would be worth $11,500,000,000 the following year. If the budget didn't increase the tax rate would be lower to generate the same $500,000,000.
$11,500,000,000 X about .04348 = $500,020,000
WNY, right on. This was a campaign strategy employed by Susan Grelick in Amherst for years. Crank up assessed valuations so that the value of property town wide goes up, apply a lower rate to a larger pot of property values, take in more money through higher net taxes due, and tout the lower rate as a win for taxpayers. That’s why people are so surprised when they get a tax bill that’s so high. As the old grumpy has pointed out, the whole assessment game is a distraction from actual taxes due. It sets neighbor against neighbor and causes them to worry about how they stack up against the other guy. It’s the levy, people...the levy. That’s how much the government wants and that determines how much they’re gonna bill you for.